Connection With A Mudblood
by TruthCannotAlwaysBeHidden
Summary: Five years later. After a car accident, everything seems to change for Hermione and Draco. They become more connected than they want to be.
1. Bloody Rain

Chapter 1 – Bloody Rain

"So, you're just going to leave me here! After all we've been through!" the brown haired witch cried.

"No! I never meant for this to happen! How can you be pregnant?! This is too early. I'm sorry, Hermione, I can't handle this. I'm not ready for all this. We're not even married." The ginger head exclaimed. Hermione's vision was blurred, as she tried to keep her tears back, but it was no use, they easily trickled down her tanned cheeks. Ron exited out of her apartment, slamming the door shut. He walked into the bloody rain, pouring over his ginger head.

"Ron!" Hermione bawled, she was far away from her, far away from reach. He had left her and her baby. Her perfect world had completely shattered like a mirror. She slid down the wall, pouring her heart out.

Smack! Ron's cheek, stinging with pain.

"How dare you do that to her? How dare you!?" Molly Weasley shouted at her now ashamed son.

"I didn't mean to, mum. I didn't want to, but I had to tell her the truth. I can't handle it, I won't be able to." Ron explained.

"You were supposed to support her not destroy her, Ronald!" Mrs Weasley cried.

"You should be there at a time like this, when she needs you the most. You are going to be a father, Ron."

"I don't want to be a father!" he blurted out. Molly's mouth dropped open in the shape of an 'O'.

"I didn't mean it that way." Ron said intimidated.

"Just go." She dismissed him, trying to keep her anger from showing. Without another look at his mother, he went to his bedroom, with his head bent low.

Hermione greeted her secretary politely, who look at her concerned.

"Ms Granger, I had a call from Mrs. Weasley, she said she need to talk to you urgently, she wants you to drop by at the Burrow, straight after work." Ms Greek informed. Hermione nodded and entered her office, placed a lock on the room using her wand.

The day was going very slowly and Hermione was becoming irked by the minute.

Only two hours had gone since she had come in her office. She tried to bury herself in the huge pile of paperwork due for next week, but she couldn't concentrate, because there was loud music to be heard from the next door office. Hermione picked up the phone and called for her secretary.

"Grace, can you please tell the next door office to keep quiet, as I'm trying to do some very important paperwork." Hermione said.

"Yes, Ms Granger." Grace replied.

Finally! Looks like the person next door had shut off the music. She continued to check and sign all the paperwork left for her from her boss until...

Knock! Knock! Just when she thought she was going to finish all the paperwork. She pointed her wand at the door, unlocking it and entered the last person on the planet she wanted to have the pleasure of meeting – Draco Malfoy.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ms Know-It-All. Just when I thought I had left you 'Golden Trio' for good, you had to show up. Didn't you? He smirked his signature smirk.

"Out of all the floors, you had to have a job at this one. Just once I would like to enjoy my life in peace." She pleaded.

"Well, in here, you are not gonna get any, not while I'm around. They don't call me a party animal for nothing you know." He said; always his arrogant self. Hermione rolled her eyes in disinterest at the comment.

"You haven't changed a bit have you, Malfoy?" she said chuckling.

"What are you laughing at, Granger?" he glared at her irksome. She burst out laughing freely, only to annoy him further. Draco squinted at the brown haired witch in annoyance.

"What the hell is so funny, Granger?" he stared. Hermione attempted to compose herself and act professional.

"Party animal, in what world?" she snickered.

"You know what? It's pointless talking to you. I'm out of here." He walked out in anger, with Hermione still laughing.

"Ms. Granger? Your doctor just called, she told me to inform you for your pregnancy scan due for next week, on a Wednesday at 10:30 am." Ms. Greek said. Hermione nodded and went back to her office, back to work. the telephone was ringing continuously.

"Hello?" Hermione answered.

"You finally decide to pick up the phone. For goodness sake, woman."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione grumbled.

"My blue folder, which is sitting on your desk. Drop it in my office, would you Granger?" he asked.

"Get it yourself, Malfoy." she hissed and with that she hung up the phone before the git could say anything else. She snatched the folder of the desk and with a flick of her wand, transformed it into an ink pot.

"Lazy git."

"Granger! Open the damn door!" Hermione flicked her wand and the door unlocked. He stormed inside, searching around for his folder.

"Have you become that lazy Granger, that you can even drop a folder in my office? Which is next door by the way." he complained. He looked around the office, unable to find his folder. He then understood what had happened to it and looked towards Hermione, with his arms crossed across his chest. "Alright Granger. Where is it? Hand it over." he held out his hand.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione said innocently.

"Enough with the innocent act, Granger. I know you have my folder. Just pass it over, so we both can get back to work." he suggested.

"What folder? I have no folder. Do you see a folder of any sort on my desk or anywhere in my office? No, I don't think so." Hermione tried to keep a straight face, but Draco could see the corner of her lips trying not to curve into a smirk.

"I can see your smirk, Granger. I am not blind you know, now hand it over." he said now serious. He again held out his hand hoping to have a weight put in to it, but no such weight was put on.

"You don't really think I'm gonna give it to you that easily, do you Malfoy? I thought you knew me better." she said pouting. Hermione smirked as he sighed in surrender.

"What's the catch?" he asked.

"You have to dress up as a chicken and so the chicken dance in public, in front of The Three Broomsticks. And you have to wear to work for a day." she said smiling mischievously.

"What?! No! I wont do it! Just give me back my file, so I can get back to my client." he said. Hermione was starting to get on his nerves.

"Okay, okay, you don't have to wear it to work. But you still have to wear it in front of The Three Broomsticks." Hermione giggled.

"No! I wont do it! Stop playing these dumb games on my and juts give me the file!" Draco's anger was boiling up inside, gradually increasing, but Hermione was not going to give him the file so easily. She shook her head, she was not giving him the file at any time until he agrees to her deal. Draco was beginning to get pissed at Hermione for her childish behaviour, so he reached for his pocket for his wand. He pointed the tip towards the brown haired witch and mumbled a spell, which Hermione could catch until she was transformed, her face growing many horrid boils. Soon, she was hardly recognisable.

"MALFOY! CHANGE ME BACK! NOW!" she screamed at him.

"Only if you give me my file back, without any conditions." he insisted, a smirk playing on his lips, trying to keep himself from laughing.

"Yes, fine. Now change me back!" Hermione demanded. Draco obeyed. Hermione pointed her wand at the ink pot on her desk and transformed it back into the blue file it was before. She then handed it back to the blonde Slytherin.

"You ever do that again, you will regret it for the rest of your life." she warned him as he smirked.

"Whatever, Granger." Draco said ignorant. He snatched the file from Hermione and made his way for the door, when Hermione's secretary opened it, which she shouldn't have, because Draco had banged his head as she had opened it back. He placed his hand on his forehead, massaging his temples trying to reduce the pain the bloody door had caused him. Then he heard maniacal laughing behind him, Hermione was literally rolling on the floor laughing her head off. Draco gazed at the witch with an irked expression, and with that he stomped out the door into his own office. Hermione composed herself to profession level and looked towards her secretary, who was trying very hard to keep a straight face, but couldn't. She finally burst into laughter, Hermione joining in. Finally, when they had stopped.

"What is it, Liz?" Hermione asked somewhat serious.

"It was your doctor, she wants you to come to the clinic immediately." Liz replied.

"Thank you Liz. You may leave." Liz closed the door behind her and went back to her desk. Hermione commenced on getting ready for her trip to the clinic. She was anxious, to be honest, hopefully everything was alright.

Unfortunately that was not the case.

She greeted the doctor and sat down on the chair. "Hermione, you must be wondering why I have called you here." the doctor held up some X-rays of what must have been her abdomen and brain. "according to your last check up in June, it can be said that the unborn child is very sensitive. I suggest that you do not get stressed a lot, as it will have a huge impact on the child. Any sign of tension shown or you do any hard labour work, at any point, may put you child in grave danger. So please, I insist that you stay home at any cost, just to be on the safe side." the doctor explained. "As you are working in the Ministry, you must have been given a lot of paperwork, am I not right? So please, stay at home, Hermione. It's for the safety of your baby." the doctor said before Hermione could protest.

"How long will I have to stay at home, doctor?" Hermione asked.

"It may be a few weeks or maybe months."

"Months?!"

"Yes, months. We need to take extra special care that your child will be born healthy and fit, but if you keep on stressing, then there is a highly likely chance that you baby might not survive. So please, Hermione. Listen to me, stay at home. It's for your own good." she said. Hermione sighed and nodded.

"I understand, doctor. Thank you." Hermione bid the doctor goodbye and left out of the clinic.

"I better use a taxi." Hermione said. She walked towards the road, looking left and then right for a cab. Then a yellow glow was getting bigger and bigger from the distance. Hermione held out her hand, so it was visible for the taxi driver to pull over.

"Where to miss?"

"17 Lily Lane." Hermione answered.

The taxi was at a sudden top. Hermione looked outside to see the traffic lights change from green, to amber, to red. When the lights finally changed, the driver rode on…

Suddenly, Hermione heard a honking sound up ahead. It seemed to be driving towards the taxi. Hermione screamed at the driver to go the other way, the driver obeyed, and made a sharp turn to the left, causing the cab to collide. Into another cab.

Nothingness._

"Is she alright, doctor?" Jenna Granger asked anxious.

"Yes, but she has lost a lot of blood. And the crash has caused damage to her abdomen. I'm afraid we couldn't save the child. We are very sorry." Jenna cupped her hands on her mouth, tears flooding her eyes, making her vision blurry. Her husband embraced her, to which she cried even more at Hermione's loss. The couple had not even known that their daughter was going to be a mother, let alone losing the child.

"How are we going to tell her, Ross? She will be shattered." she looked up with many tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I don't know, honey. I don't know." he looked at his wife with a worried look on his face.

The doors slid open to reveal a tall blond man, who had a bandage on his forehead with a blood stain visible on it. He walked towards the couple.

"How is she, Mrs Granger? Is she going to be alright?" he asked worried.

"The doctor said she's going to be fine. But sh-she h…has lost her child." Jenna started to sob again on Ross' shoulder.

"What?! Oh my God. She was pregnant?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, she was. We found out today only. But we must thank you, Draco. If it weren't for you, our daughter may not have survived either. Thank you very much for all your help." Ross replied.

"It's okay, no need to thank me, Mr Granger." Draco said. "But now, I must go. I have some very important business at the Ministry. Goodbye." he exited.

Hermione started to gain conscious and slowly opened her eyes, and found her parents crying silently.

"Mum, why are you crying?" Hermione asked startling the couple.

"Hermione, my child! You're okay!" her mother rushed up to her daughter and clasped her into an embrace.

"Yes, mum, I'm okay. You can stop crying now." Hermione chuckled softly. Jenna let go, but continued to weep, regardless that her daughter was fine. Something was wrong and Hermione could sense it.

"Mum, what's wrong? Is everything alright?" she looked from mother to father anxiously awaiting for their answer.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but, your baby…it didn't survive the crash. You've had a miscarriage." Jenna hugged Hermione again, crying on her shoulder, while Hermione looked utterly shocked. She placed her hand on her abdomen, clutching onto to it tightly.

"No! You're lying! Dad, please tell me mum is lying!" she demanded, tears flooding and impairing her vision. Her dad couldn't bare to make eye contact with his daughter, knowing what was to come.

"Hermione, it's true…I'm sorry. You were losing a lot of blood, you were so close to death and the accident damaged your abdomen. But we couldn't give you any blood because ours didn't match with yours." he sputtered.

"But, how is that possible? You're may parents, we should have the same blood." she said in disbelief.

Lingering Silence Filled The Air.

**A/N : Hey guys. My second fanfic. Hope you all like it. :)**


	2. Hermione Granger Pureblood

Chapter 2 - Hermione Granger:Pureblood

"Hermione, it's time we talked about…your real parents." Hermione's eyes widened, but she let her dad continue. "Well, what happened was that your parents were on a date on the 15th of September at a restaurant called Harlow's, in London. Me and Jenna were also on a date, we had sat on the table next to them….Everything was going great for them as well as us, until they exited out of the restaurant. Me and Jenna were still inside, eating our dinner, when we saw a flash of green outside. We both rushed outside to see what had happened and there we saw, a hooded figure floating away further in the distance, I never really saw their face, but I paid more attention to your parents, they were in a critical condition."

"Jenna had gotten her phone and called for an ambulance. When they finally came, we asked to come with them. So we were at the hospital waiting for the doctor to return, and when he did…he had announced that they only had a few hours left and that they had a baby girl."

"They wanted to see us, so we went. When we were there, they asked to sit down. Then the woman -your mother spoke, she said, 'Please, take care of our child. We trust you both to keep our Hermione safe. Thank you for helping us'. We couldn't believe what they were asking us to do, they wanted us, complete strangers, to take care of their child, when they could asked one of their loved ones for help. We were even about to protest, but they just wavered their hands off and handed Jenna the baby -you." he gave a small, weak smile at Hermione who returned it back.

"The man, your father, spoke this time and handed me a small bag with a letter attached to it and told me to take care of it until the time comes to give it to you. We didn't know how we would come to know of the right time, but they said that we would feel it when the time is right for us to give the small bag to you. I guess you can say we felt the right time was now, though we had felt it before than this."

"Then, suddenly, we saw that they were slowly closing their eyes at the same time, and we really panicked. We called the doctor, hoping that he would say that they were resting, but instead…he announced their deaths." he sighed sadly. "Even though we had just met them that day, we felt like we had known them for long. We were so heartbroken, seeing that they had died without even having a chance to properly take care of you…So we had made a promise that day, to you parents that we would take care of you no matter what and had kept this promise since the day you were born. -We had always wanted a child of our own, a chance to be a mother and a father. -We didn't even have any idea about them except for their names, Charlotte and Brian Granger. Funny, they had the same last name as us." Ross stopped for a moment to breathe after his long story, while Jenna continued.

"We never knew they were wizards until the day you turned eleven, we saw that you were in the kitchen, trying to reach for the cookies on the shelf, but before one of us could even help you take the jar down, the cookie jar floated down all by itself, in your hands. We were absolutely shocked by your abilities…but were proud to have raised such a special daughter like you." Jenna smiled. "That was also the day when you received your letter from Hogwarts, you were so excited about going to school and we were excited for you too. -We were actually going to tell you about your parents then, but you seemed so happy that we didn't want to upset you with the news of your biological parents, so we kept quiet until another day in which we would give you the news, meaning today." she frowned slightly.

"Look, honey, we are very sorry that we kept this from you for this long, but there was too much going on in your school life that we didn't want to add more to your list. -We would understand if you would hate us, Hermione. But we just want you to know that we love you so much and that we never meant cause any harm." Jenna choked out, water droplets streaming down her face.

Hermione couldn't hate them. Sure they had kept such a huge secret from her about her real parents, but only so she wouldn't be more worried than she already has been at school. They had taken such good care of her, regardless of the fact that they didn't know about her parents so well. They have been so good to her. How could she hate them for that?

"I don't hate you. You have been so good to me and taken care of me even though I am some strangers' child. I don't hate you, if anything, I love you both more." Hermione embraced her mum, teary eyed.

"You are and will always be the best daughter any parent could have the privilege of taking care of. We have and always will love you dearly." Ross said joining the two women.

"I love you both, too. Thank you for everything." Hermione said. Then a question rose to the front of her mind. If not them, then who had donated her their blood. "Who was it who gave me their blood then, if not you?"

"His name was Draco, dear. Lovely young man, I must say." Hermione's mouth dropped.

"Do you mean, Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked. They both nodded.

"Isn't it that boy who always called you 'Mudblood' in school?" her dad asked.

"Yes it is. -Are you sure it was him? -Did he have white blonde hair, pale face, grey eyes?" she asked, trying to reassure herself that it could be another Draco Malfoy, though it was a long shot.

"Yes!" they both said in unison, chuckling. "I have to say, he seems to be a changed man now. He looked so worried when he saw the state you were in." Jenna said smiling.

"But it can't be! He's nothing but an arrogant, self-absorbing bigot!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Sweetheart, people change. Surely, after that war of yours in the wizarding world, many things must have changed, haven't they? Not everything remains the same for long, dear." Jenna explained.

"But he's a Malfoy! Malfoys never change!" she cried out.

"Well, then the war must have really shook him." Ross said.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Hermione huffed angrily, not believing a word her parents were uttering out about the pureblood Slytherin, who had been nothing but cruel to her.

"Hermione, I want you to thank him for what he has done. If he had not donated his blood, you may not have survived either." Jenna frowned.

"Okay, mum. I will." Hermione sighed, knowing it was useless for the her protest.

"We're gonna leave now. We'll pick you up tomorrow, that's when the doctor said you would be discharged. Bye, honey." Jenna and Ross both kissed Hermione on the forehead and exited out of the emergency room.

"Mum, dad!" Hermione rushed up to her parents and hugged them.

"Ginny called you yesterday night, she wanted to know if you were alright and that she's sorry that she couldn't be here with you, her coach wouldn't allow it because she had a Quidditch match. She did tell us that she will contact you as soon as possible." Jenna informed. "She also said that Harry and Ron were at an Auror mission in Oslo so they couldn't come back by today morning." Hermione nodded, she knew her friends would be busy, but that didn't mean that they did care about her and that they loved her so much.

"I'm going to the Ministry, mum. I have lots of paperwork to complete. I'll see you soon."

"No, Hermione. I think you should rest for the day, you can go tomorrow. Just rest for today, ask the Minister to give you a day off, I'm sure he would understand." Ross suggested.

"Dad, I'll be fine. If I don't feel well, I will call you and come home, I promise." she assured her worrying parents.

"Okay, honey, but be careful." Jenna warned.

"I will, mum. Don't worry." with that said, she bid them goodbye and apparated to the floor her office was in.

"Hermione! You're alright!" it was her secretary, Liz. She had enveloped Hermione into a tight embrace, delighted to see that Hermione was alright.

"Yes, Liz, I'm alright." Hermione smiled, as a blushing Liz let go.

"You got these, just came in today." Liz handed her the two letters to Hermione and departed to her desk. Hermione entered her office, with the two letters in hand. She looked to see that someone one was sitting her chair. And that someone was none other than Draco Malfoy. She was beyond shocked to see him in her office, and it looked like he was completing all her paperwork. Hermione was speechless, she stayed rooted to the spot, not understanding what to do.

'What if he's sabotaging my work?' she thought. Believing it to be the reason for him being in her office, she flicked her wand at her self and transformed herself into a Boggart. She slowly floated towards the blonde.

Draco felt something approaching him, so he looked up and saw the face he had been scared of his entire life. He staggered back onto the floor, falling off the chair and slid backwards quickly, frightened of the figure coming closer to him. "Please, let me go! I'm not a killer! I couldn't kill them! Please, don't kill me! I swear, I couldn't do it! I was not strong enough!" Draco bawled as he was cornered to the back wall.

This was getting out of hand. She didn't mean to scare him that much. This was not a prank anymore. Hermione had to stop. She waved her wand at her. She was soon back to Hermione Granger. "Draco, it's me, Hermione. I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I only thought it was a prank. I'm sorry." Hermione said regretful for her action. He stood up from the back wall and straightened himself out.

"Well, that was a sick joke. I thought you were better than this, Granger. Obviously, I thought wrong. You will always be the Mudblood I knew you were." he spat in disgust.

"I'm not a muggleborn! I was adopted!" Hermione blurted out, tired of the same insult he threw at her since the first year in Hogwarts. "I'm a pureblood, just like you, Malfoy. My parents were killed by death eaters! People like you, had killed my parents!" Hermione exclaimed. Draco was shocked. She was a pureblood and the death eaters had killed her real parents for a reason only Merlin could know. She was lying, he thought. She could never be a pureblood. She would always be the filthy Mudblood he knew she was.

"Stop making up these stories, they're futile." he remarked.

"I'm not lying, Malfoy! Hermione cried. He looked into her chocolate eyes, they showed nothing but honesty.

"Then why hadn't you told anyone before?" he challenged.

"Because, I just found out yesterday." Hermione explained. Okay. Maybe what she was saying was true, that didn't give her the right to play that sick joke on him.

"Well, even if you are a pureblood, Granger. That does certainly not mean you can play these disgusting jokes on me." Draco stated.

"I know and im sorry for that. I didn't mean for you to get so scared like that, it was not my intention, please, believe me." her voice softened. He was right, she shouldn't have done that. She then noticed him leaving out the door, so she followed him. "Malfoy…who was it?" she asked, stepping into his office.

"That, is none of you business, Granger. Now get out of my office before I do it personally myself." he warned her. Hermione sighed and apologised one more time before exiting out of his office.

She sat down at her desk and opened the letters addressed to her and read them. The blue one first.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I heard about what happened. Im sorry about your baby. I know you're probably believing it to be your fault, but it was, in no way, your fault. You were just being careful, that's all. I just want you to know that im here for you and that it's all Ron's fault. If he hadn't left you, this would never have happened. I want to murder that git so much, but I know mum wouldn't approve of it. I would probably regret it later, too._

_Anyways, I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the hospital yesterday. My coach wouldn't allow it, because we had a very important match against the Chudley Canons. He believed that I was one of the strongest able chaser he had seen and I that he couldn't afford to lose this game to the Canons._

_Look, when your shift ends, I'll be waiting to talk to you at The Burrow about everything. But for now, that's all I have to say. I'll see you tonight._

_Your best friend_

_Ginny._

Hermione's eyes welled up when she was reminded of her loss again. She was going to be a mother, but that all ended before it could even begin. She felt so sad about that, but she looked on the bright side, at least she was alive. Oh, who was she kidding? She had desired for so long to have a child of her own, other than taking care of Teddy Lupin, she wanted to take care of her own child, but that was not going to happen now, after the accident which almost took her life…

Draco was still having trouble believing the fact that the bookworm was a pureblood. Huh. That doesn't change the fact that she nearly scared the life out of him. He had thought of her as a Smart, Sweet, Caring, Brave Gryffindor, but after that little stunt, he was starting to think otherwise. -Wait. What did he just say? What the hell was wrong with him?! He couldn't think like that about her! She was still the same Mudblood he knew and despised. Right? Well, she's not exactly a muggleborn anymore. He was thinking about her way too much. He shook his thoughts aside and continued with his own work on his desk.

Hermione picked up the other letter and read the contents inside.

_Dear Hermione, _

_I'm sorry to hear about your baby. I was so angry with that prick that I punched him, right in the gut, after I found out what happened from your parents. How dare he do that to you?! I know you must be thinking that punch wasn't needed, but he saw it coming. He told me that he was sorry for what he did, but I told him that it was you who he should be apologising to._

_I'm sorry we couldn't make it. It's just that we were on the verge of catching more death eaters that were in hiding, in Oslo, your parents must have told you, because I called in yesterday to ask if you were okay and then I found out that you had an accident. Ron and I were beyond worried. We wanted to come straight away, but we weren't able to. But as soon as we arrive, we will be waiting for you, like Gin, at The Burrow._

_Love_

_Harry._

She was so happy that her best friends were so good to her, they were the bestest friend a girl could have.

She acknowledged that they didn't mention anything about knowing about her real parents, so that meant that she had to tell them about it, her parents believing it to be her job to inform them about it. She would tell them when she would return to The Burrow, but for now, she had to finish so much paperwork, it would take the whole d- She observed her desk and found that there were only a few sheets of paper piled on top of her desk for her to sign. She looked through the papers that had been already signed, and to her surprise, they weren't sabotaged with like she thought Malfoy would have done, but he hadn't. He had actually helped her finish it. And what had she done, turned into a Boggart and scared the life put of him, believing him to be the same Malfoy he was. She was supposed to thank him, as per her parents wish. She had to go now. She placed the letters on her desk and made a right, to his office.

Draco, not wanting to have any disturbance, waved his wand at the door and locked it firmly. He continued with his work in peace.

Why did he lock the door? Did he not want her to enter his office because of what she had done to him? Hermione sighed and retreated back to her office.


	3. Sorry And Thank You

Chapter 3 - Sorry and Thank you

Lunch time had dawned and Draco unlocked the door towards the counter where he was meant to sign out from. He across from where he stood, the brown haired witch was doing the same.

This was her chance, she thought. She walked towards the blonde, who was striding out of the Ministry. She quickly rushed to catch up with him. "Malfoy! Wait!" she called out. He finally halted and waited for her to be beside him. "Look, I'm sorry about that joke I played on you. I was supposed to thank you." Draco looked at her baffled by what she was talking about. "Thank you for saving me when that accident happened. If it hadn't been for you, my baby would not have been the only one who would have de-" his hand clamped her mouth, preventing her from finishing her sentence. Hermione looked into his eyes, there really was concern showing. And that too for her.

He looked into her chocolate eyes. He knew she was genuinely sorry for what she had done. He told her that it was okay, with his eyes. His eyes softened, because he knew that she had forgiven her.

He had forgiven her, that's what she wanted…but why had he stopped her from finishing her sentence? All she was going to say was dead. She had thought that he would have smirked and say that she deserved to die when she would have said it, but his eyes spoke otherwise. He didn't feel that way. She then widened her eyes when she noticed him leaning in closer and closer. She had to stop him!

What the hell was he doing?! Step back, Draco! Step back right now! But he couldn't, his body had taken control of him, his mind not wanting to listen to his protests either. Stop Draco! STOP! He finally felt that he had control over his body and mind, and quickly backed away and hurried out of the Ministry.

He was going to kiss her! But at least he finally understood what he was doing and pulled back. Thank Merlin. She was about to push him back, but he beat her to it. She looked around the hall of the Ministry, everyone had their eyes on her. She quickly scurried out of the Ministry, turning a fierce red, away from the attention.

She was in such a hurry, that she stumbled into a solid figure. She almost thought she was going to fall but she was caught by two strong arms. She opened her eyes, finally believing she was safe and met a pair of sea green eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Hermione sputtered.

"It's okay. You seem to be in an awful lot of hurry." he chuckled as he allowed her to stand up.

"Ur…yeah." she smiled weakly. "I-I gotta go. Thank you for catching me." she blushed and hurried to the direction of a small café.

"You're welcome." he smiled. He continued on his way to the Ministry.

A knock disrupted Draco with his work. Annoyed to be disturbed, he opened the door and saw that it was his secretary, Michael Foster.

"This was sent for you, it's from your mother I believe." he studied his secretary, he looked as if he knew what contained in the envelope. Draco was on the verge of opening it when Michael stopped him. "Wait! I-I'll just leave and then you can open it." Michael slowly back away and closed the door.

"What was that all about?" Draco shrugged and tore open the envelope.

"DRACO ABRAXAS MALFOY! WHERE WERE YOU AT OUR ANNIVERSARY PARTY?! WE SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOU TO BE PRESENT AT THE MANOR AT 9:30 PM SHARP! I WANT YOU TO BE AT THE MANOR TODAY, AS SOON AS YOU FINISH WORK! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, YOUNG MAN?!" With that the letter burst into flames in his hands, burning them a little. He blew on his hands quickly, trying to get the burning feeling of his hands. He now knew how the Weasel had felt when he had gotten a howler from his mother in 4th year. He shook out from his reverie upon hearing laughter next door. Granger.

She was laughing her head off. She had heard clearly that Malfoy had gotten a howler. He damn right deserved it! As she continued to laugh, she heard the phone ringing. She picked it up and answered it.

"Granger, I can hear your bloody laughter right through the wall." she could almost hear the grit in his teeth and anger in his voice.

"Oh yeah? I don't care! You damn right deserve it! You think you're so perfect, don't you Malfoy? Well, hell, you are so not!" she sniggered. The phone disconnected immediately.

The nerve of her! That's it! She was done for! He stomped out of his office and banged on Hermione's door. "Granger! Open the damn door! Now!" he shouted. The door opened and he stormed inside, taking out his wand from his pocket. He pointed it at her and mumbled the words. Her nose grew bigger and was a bright red. Her hair an afro, dyed in bright rainbow colours. Her face painted pure white, with a big smiled outlined around her lips. Draco tried to keep himself from laughing, placing both hands on his mouth, but he just couldn't control it. He burst out in laughter, freely.

Hermione glared at him angrily as he fell on the floor, grasping his sides, laughing. "MALFOY! CHANGE ME BACK! NOW!" she bellowed, but he continued laughing. "Change me back now or I will- I will-" he stood up from the floor and walked towards her.

"Or you'll do what, Granger? Huh?" he stepped forwards as he challenged her. Hermione stepped backwards.

"Or I will…" she stepped further back until she was against the solid wall, feeling intimidated by him walking closer. Before she could move away from the wall, Draco's hands trapped her on both sides of her head on the wall. She couldn't go anywhere now.

She looked up and their eyes locked. The grey stormy ones bore into the caramel ones.

He stepped closer…closer…closer…

Closer…

Closer…

He leaned in closer to her face. Their lips level with each other now.

"What are you doing?…" Hermione whispered softly.

He didn't know himself. What was he doing? His mind and body had taken control again. It wasn't long until his lips brushed against hers slowly.

Hermione stop! No, don't do it! But her mind and body had taken control of her and wouldn't let her push the blonde back, who had pressed his lips onto hers. Instead, she brushed her lips against his, lingering the moment. Hermione tried to get control of her hands to shove his body off, but they were not working at her command.

She was kissing him back! What the hell does she think she was doing?! He thought.

Hermione opened her eyes wider as she realised what she was exactly doing. She picked up her hands, finally seeming to have regained control and placed them on his chest, pushing him away from her.

Draco realised what he had done and quickly hurried off to his office.

He slammed his fist on the table. What in Merlin's baggy shorts was she thinking?" why had he kissed her? -Why had she kissed him back?! Why couldn't he stop himself?! So many questions were flooding his mind, but he had answers to none of them. He didn't understand what had gotten into him. Why didn't he stop himself?! Why?! He grunted and slammed his fist on the table again, harder this time. This time the pain was unbearable. He groaned and chanted a Healing Spell at his broken hand.

Hermione had let her tears run free down her face. How could have done that?! How could she have kissed Malfoy?! How could she betray Ron?! This was not happening to her right now. Why had he kissed her?! Why had she kissed him back?! -Why wasn't she able to stop herself?! Why?! So many questions running through her mind that she felt the room spinning around her. She dropped herself on her chair and breathed heavily, resting her head back. She allowed more tears to fall as she took a shaky breath.

She suddenly felt slight pain on her right hand. She didn't understand why it was hurting because she hadn't hit her hand against anything. Even more confused than before, she rested her head back on the chair and closed her eyes for a while.

He ran his fingers through his hair.

He then felt a tear run down his pale cheek. He brushed his finger on his right cheek and saw that it was a tear that had leaked out of his eyes, but he didn't understand why.


	4. The Kiss With Hermione Granger

**Chapter 4 - The Burrow**

"Hermione, dear. I heard what happened…" Molly trailed off, unable to talk. Hermione quickly grasped the older witch in a tight embrace, crying out freely. Molly comforted Hermione by slowly rubbing her back.

"It's okay, honey. Just let it all out." Molly encouraged her. Hermione needed to let all her emotions out, and so, she wailed even more. "Come on, let's go inside. Ginny, Harry and Ron are waiting for you in the living room." Molly lead the younger witch inside.

"Hermione!" Ginny rushed up to the brown eyed witch, whom she believed to be her sister and engulfed her in her arms. Hermione hugged back, crying more. "It's alright." Ginny said, rubbing her back, like her mother before her. Hermione finally let go, all cried out. She wiped her tears away and attempted a smile at her best friends.

Harry walked towards Hermione and enveloped her into a bone crushing hug. When he finally let go after what felt like several minutes, Harry set his eyes on Ron. Ron shuffled his feet, not able to make eye contact with the witch he had caused so much trouble for. Hermione looked to the side, not wanting to look at her friend, or if she could even call him that now, who had hurt her so much. She just sat down on the sofa, waiting for her friends to do the same.

When they finally settled down, Harry turned to Hermione. "How did it happen, 'Mione? If you don't mind us asking." Harry asked hesitantly.

Hermione told them everything that happened about the accident. How the damage was too much for the baby to survive from. Malfoy bring her saviour, making her friends gasp. How she was adopted and was a Pureblood. Everything was revealed to the trio that sat beside her. -Well…maybe not everything. Hermione skipped the moment of the kiss she has shared with Malfoy as she knew they would be so angry at her, especially Ron.

"Wow…so you're a Pureblood. How does it feel to be one?" Harry asked.

"It feels the same. Nothing feels different. I don't know why gits like Malfoy make such a big deal about it." Hermione grumbled.

"That's because he was born that way. A Pureblood prick." Ginny remarked, making Hermione chuckle slightly.

"Well, anyways, we're just happy that you're alright." Harry smiled.

"Me too." Hermione returned the smile.

On the night went, as the four wizards joked and laughed about their times at Hogwarts.

"Oh, and remember the time when you punched Malfoy right in the nose! Oh, that was hilarious! I still remember that day! He looked so scared!" Harry recalled the memory. The four of them laughed, recollecting Malfoy's face when Hermione had punched him.

"He deserved it. He was bad mouthing Hagrid and Buckbeak. I was not just gonna stand there and do nothing while he threw insult after insult at them." Hermione reasoned.

Dinner had ended and Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny all headed upstairs to their rightful bedrooms. Hermione and Ginny sharing one room and Harry sharing another with Ron. Before they went, Ginny kissed Harry goodnight, resulting in Ron scolding the couple to do their business elsewhere.

"Whatever Ron. Just go to your room because it's going to happen every - single - day, since we're getting married in two weeks." Ginny stated causing Ron to scoff and go inside his bedroom, not wanting to hear or see anymore. Harry retired inside as well after hugging Hermione for one last time and kissing Ginny goodnight.

Ginny and Hermione departed to their bedroom, talking about the wedding plans for the upcoming Saturday. "So, I was thinking if we could go with Fleur to the wedding shop on Saturday. Is that okay for you?" the red head asked. Hermione nodded, not really paying attention so much anymore.

"'Mione, you alright? You seemed so tensed when you arrived. Is everything alright?" Ginny asked. Hermione sighed, knowing nothing could go unnoticed by the her best friend.

"No, Gin, it's not. I've done something really, really wrong." Hermione said. "I've…kissed Malfoy." she blurted.

"You did what?!" Ginny bellowed, loud enough for the entire house to hear her voice. Hermione waved her wand and muttered the silencing spell before continuing.

"I-I didn't mean to! I-It just happened! I tried t-to stop myself, but I wasn't able to! I don't know what happened." Hermione shook her head in worry.

"Woah. Okay, slow down." Hermione breathed in and out. "Okay, now tell me what happened." Ginny said. Hermione explained everything that happened, from the morning onwards.

"He gave you boils and turned you into a clown?" Ginny asked, pursing her lips together, trying to keep a straight face. Hermione glared daggers at the red head.

"It's not funny!" Hermione cried.

Ginny burst out in laughter freely, while Hermione giving her the shut-up-or-I'll-hex-you look. Ginny stopped immediately, knowing that her friend was not lying. "Well, he deserved to get that howler. Thinking that he was so dam perfect." Ginny said.

"Oh, and don't forget when he banged his head into the door!" Hermione reminded her. They both started laughing as an image of Malfoy banging his head into the door popped up in their minds.

"I don't get. I mean how could he think of kissing you, when you were a clown. -I never knew he liked clowns so much." Ginny sniggered.

"Ginny, it's not funny. And I was back to my normal state when we kissed." Hermione said, not exactly knowing how she knew that.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. But why did he kiss you? I mean, from the first day he saw you, he did nothing but insult you." Ginny stated.

"I don't know. I don't get it either." Hermione frowned. "And you know what the worst part was? I kissed him back." she sighed.

"If Harry and Ron find out, they are not gonna be happy about this." Ginny said.

"I know, Gin. But please, don't tell them until I'm ready to." Hermione pleaded.

"Don't worry, I wont. I promise." Ginny assured her best friend. "Now, we should get some sleep. It's been a tiring day for all of us." Ginny clapped her hands and the lights went off. Hermione jumped inside the covers and drifted off to what she hoped would be a dreamless sleep.

"You did what?!" Blaise had spat out his mouthful of water, coughing hysterically.

"I-I don't know what happened! One minute I turn her into a clown and then the next, I kiss her! I don't get it! I would never kiss a Mudblood like Granger!" Draco exclaimed. "Well, she's not exactly a Mudblood anymore, but still, I would never, in a million years, kiss Granger."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Blaise asked.

"Well, she told me that she was adopted and that her parents were wizards, but they were murdered by Death Eaters. She only found out yesterday." Draco clarified.

"I never even knew there were Death Eaters in that century. But, you told me that she kissed you back. Why would she do that?" the raven haired friend asked.

"I don't know! She kissed me back one moment, but then probably realised who she was kissing and shoved me back. I just hurried to the office then. I. Don't. Get. It. Why would I do such a thing?! I would never kiss Granger even if my life depended on it." Draco cleared.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Granger, but I do know that things will go back to normal tomorrow, right?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, it will." Draco nodded. Draco turned to retire to his bedroom when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"What was it like? The kiss, I mean." Blaise smirked. "Was it good?" he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the platinum blond.

"I guess. But I've had better." Draco shrugged.

"You're lying. I can see it in your eyes. Just tell me the truth, dude. We're all friends here. I promise I won't tell." Blaise urged him.

"Fine. It was great. Happy?" Draco surrendered.

"I knew it! I knew it! -Can I have details, though? -Oh, come on!" Blaise cried. Draco shook his head and left his room with a smirk on his face.

Draco lied back on his bed, the kiss emerging in his mind. He smiled. As much as he tried to deny it, he loved the warm, fuzzy feeling Granger gave him. He hadn't felt like that with any girl before, ever. He wondered how the know-it-all bookworm felt about the kiss. But he did know one thing. He was going to stop with the insults and just try being civil towards her. He was not his father, who cared for no one but himself. He hadn't thought to have confided with his family before he made such a big decision that would and had changed their lives. His father ruined his and his mother's life because of his bad decisions.

He put his thoughts aside and got under the covers, falling into deep sleep, but one thought stayed glued to his mind - the kiss with Hermione Granger.


	5. The Drink Down

Chapter 5 - In His Mind

"Hermione, wake up! We're going shopping today!" Ginny chimed excitedly as she shook her frizzy haired friend.

"Five more minutes!" Hermione moaned as she turned to her side.

"No! Get out of bed, now! I'm warning you, 'Mione!" Ginny threatened.

"Ginny, what's the hurry? It's only…" she slightly opened her eyes to check the clock on the bed side table. "…nine thirty." Hermione closed her eyes fully again and attempted to return to her sleep.

"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you." Ginny pointed her wand at the still closed eyed Hermione. "Aguamenti." Ginny said. Water spurted out of the tip of the wand, squirting the brown haired witch's face. Hermione quickly got up, annoyed to the method used to wake her up from her slumber. She conjured up a towel and wiped her face.

"Ginny! You didn't need to do that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes, I did. I warned you, though, but you didn't listen." Ginny giggled. "And look, you won't need to have a bath now, do you?" Hermione threw a pillow at the red head's face, but missed by a fraction. Annoyed at the ginger, she jumped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

Draco burst out laughing, startling Blaise out of his wits. "Draco, what happened? Why are you laughing?" thinking that he was gone insane.

"Because Weaslette just spurted water on Granger with Aguamenti, to wake her up! You should've seen Granger's face!" Draco laughed.

"What the hell are you on about, dude? Granger is not even here." Blaise said, baffled by Draco's strange behaviour. Draco stopped laughing. -How could he see her from all the way at The Burrow? Okay, that was utterly weird.

"I don't know…" his voice quiet now.

Hermione and Ginny descended down the stairs rhythmically. "Good morning, Molly." Hermione greeted the older witch.

"Good morning, dear." Molly said. "Come on, have some breakfast before we all rush off to Fleur. She said she will meet us that the wedding shop." the two witched settled down and took a piece of everything on the dining table. They munched on the food until they could eat no more.

The witches headed out of the household and apparated together to the wedding shop, once they were out of the boundaries. Fleur had informed them that she will be waiting for them.

"Hi, Hermione, Ginny, Molly." Fleur greeted. "Come on in. We'll get started straight away." she lead them inside. Hermione looked around, the place was flooded with blacks and whites. So many dresses for Ginny to choose from.

"I think you should try this one." Fleur urged Ginny as she showed her a strapless white dress that kissed the floor. Ginny nodded and changed into the dress.

Hermione looked at her in awe. Ginny looked beautiful. "Ginny, you look perfect in that dress!" Ginny grinned.

"Yes dear, Hermione's right, you look amazing." Molly complimented.

"Thanks mum, 'Mione. Fleur, you are amazing! You always seem to pick out the right dress for everyone!" she squealed as she embraced the platinum headed witch.

"No problem, Gin. Molly, I think this one would look great on you." Fleur held out a white full sleeved dress, touching the floor, just like Ginny's had.

"Hermione, I saved this one for you. I think it will really suit your complexion and eyes." Hermione took the dress in Fleur's hands and flashed it on. She looked at her reflection. She did look good in the dress. Smiling, she turned to the blonde. "Thank you so much, Fleur! I love it!" Hermione grinned, hugging the blonde tightly.

"I'm so glad you liked it, 'Mione." Fleur smiled, returning the hug.

The women continued to talk about the wedding until it was nearing the afternoon.

"Well, I think it's time to go. Thank you again, Fleur. We'll see you next week on Friday. Goodbye." Molly hugged Fleur one more time and exited the shop, with Hermione and Ginny following behind.

"Mum, can we stay here for a little while longer? Please?" Ginny begged.

"Alright. Have fun you two." Molly chortled lightly. She bid the two women adieu and apparated back to The Burrow.

Ginny and Hermione headed into a new opened café - the Griffin.

Hermione called for the waiter nearest to their table and waiting for him to come to their table.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter looked up and grinned widely at Hermione. "Hey, weren't you that girl who was in such a hurry the other day that you bumped right into me?" he asked, the grin not residing his face.

"Ur, yes it is." Hermione answered, her cheeks rivalling with Ginny's flaming hair. Ginny smirked as her best friend blushed furiously.

"My name's Jake by the way. Jake Clorset. You must be The Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley, if I'm not mistaken." he held out his hand for the two women to shake.

"Jake? Get on with your work!" an elderly man shouted at Jake.

"Yes, dad! Sorry. What would you like to order?" he asked turning back to the witches.

"We'll have two pancakes and Cheesecakes, please." Hermione said, observing the menu in front of her.

"Two Pancakes and Cheesecakes. Anything else?" he asked.

"That's all, thanks." Ginny replied. Jake walked away behind the counter, disappearing into the kitchen. Ginny looked at Hermione and wiggled her eyebrows.

"What happened?" the ginger asked eagerly.

"Well, when Malfoy almost kissed me in front of the whole Ministry, he ran off because he probably realised what he was about to do. I looked around the hall and saw everyone's eyes on me, so I quickly ran off. I was in such a hurry, though, that I didn't see Jake in front of me and I bumped into him. I almost stumbled back before he caught me. So…yeah." Hermione finished.

"He sure is cute for being a waiter." Ginny giggled.

"Ginny!" Hermione cried, but blushed at the comment.

"So, what are you waiting for?! Ask him out already!" Ginny insisted. She looked at the counter and spotted Jake striding towards them with their lunch. "He's coming! Now's your chance, 'Mione!" Ginny nudged.

"Here are your pancakes and cheesecakes. If you want anything else, just call." he smiled at Hermione, causing her to blush again. "Ur…Hermione, I know we've just met and everything, but I was wondering…ur…if…" he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "If you could maybe go on a date…with me?"

Ginny nudged her again, urging her to say yes. "Uh…sure." Hermione turned scarlet.

"Great! How's tomorrow at 8pm at The Three Broomsticks?" he asked eagerly.

"Okay." Hermione answered.

"Cool. I'll uh pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow." with that, Jake went to another table, taking their orders.

"He asked you out, 'Mione!" Ginny squealed, loud enough for everyone to look at her as if she was crazy, even Jake.

"Ginny! Shush!" Hermione put a finger to her lips. The two women got up and made their way out of the door, uncomfortable by the stares they were receiving from others in the café.

"Sorry!" Ginny apologised. "So, where do you want to go now?"

"Let's go to Flourish and Blott's." Hermione smiled.

"Of course, I should have known. Ah, come on then, my little bookworm." Ginny scuffed at Hermione's hair like she was a little child. Hermione rolled her eyes and straightened her hair before entering the welcoming book shop. She inhaled the scent of the old books and let it lead her to paradise.

Typical Granger. Draco thought. Wait. What the hell? Why can he see her from here?! This was getting really weird. What in Merlin's beard was happening to him?

"Draco!" Blaise called, shaking the blonde wizard to get his attention.

"Huh? What?" Draco shook out from his thoughts and paid attention to his best friend.

"Dude! I was asking you a question for so long! What's wrong? You seemed to be distracted today." Blaise said, concern displayed in his voice.

Draco sighed. He might as well tell him, maybe Blaise can help him with these weird visions. "Okay, well, you know this morning I started to laugh out of the blue? Well, that was because I saw Weaslette spray water on Granger's face."

"Yeah, I know about- wait, what? You saw her?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, I could see her all the way from The Burrow to here. And right now, I saw her again, she was in Flourish and Blott's like the typical Granger we know. And I also saw this serving boy ask her out on a date, they will be perfect for each other." he scoffed. "I just don't get it how I can see her from here inside my head.

"Okay, that's just weird. Did this, whatever it is, start today or did it happen before too?" Blaise asked.

"It started today." Draco affirmed.

"Okay, did anything happen between you and Granger that could have caused this kind of thing to happen? You know, other than the kiss." Blaise's eyes widened. "You don't think…it has to do with the kiss…do you?" Blaise asked scared of it being true.

"I don't know. I hope not. We need to find out more, but we don't even know what this exactly is." Draco sighed in frustration.

"Should we ask Narcissa if she knows anything about this?" Blaise asked.

"It's worth a shot." Draco shrugged.

"So, you're saying that you can see and sometimes hear Hermione in your mind?" Narcissa asked, curious.

"Yes. I just don't get how I can do that from here to wherever she is! Mother, what is happening?" Draco asked.

"Well, Draco, I believe that you and Hermione may have some kind of connection with each other, but I am unsure of how this connection was created in the first place. I will have to check upon that. I will inform you if I find out anything." Narcissa said.

"Okay, mother. Thank you for helping me." he embraced his mother in his warm arms.

"Draco, why don't you stay here for a few days, dear? It's awfully lonely without you here, since your father's gone for some important business in Italy." Narcissa frowned.

"Alright, mother. I'll stay. For you." Draco sighed. "But right now, we're gonna go out for a while. We'll be back by nine." he kissed his mother on the cheek and bid her goodbye. He then exited out of the Manor with Blaise tailing behind.

Flourish and Blott's:

Hermione glided her hand across the book shelves, and stopped on a peculiar book. She grabbed it out of the shelf and read the title. Telepathy Temptations by Elizabeth Raycrow.

"Hermione! Seriously, you've got enough books already. Come on. Let's go." Ginny insisted and pulled Hermione's hand away from the shelves, causing her to drop the book she was holding in her hand.

"Ginny! Let me put the book back on the shelf at least!" Hermione cried. The ginger released her hand and allowed Hermione to go back to put the book where it belonged. She ran back to Ginny before she got more annoyed at her.

"13 Galleons, please." the woman behind the counter said.

Ginny spotted a beautiful dress across from the bookshop and was immediately sure she was going to get it. "Uh, 'Mione, I'll just be across. After you pay, just come to the shop. Okay?" Before Hermione could answer, Ginny rushed off to the shop title Teen Glimmer.

"13 Galleons, please." the woman said again, in her monotone voice.

Hermione reached for her purse, but instead found emptiness. She put her hands inside her pockets panicking. There were no signs of her money. What was she going to do now? How could she have been so stupid!? Forgetting her purse like that! That was so unlike her! She looked at the black haired woman apologetically. "Urm…I am truly sorry, but I have left my-" Suddenly, a pale hand reached out and handed the Galleons to the lady.

Hermione looked to the side and met grey orbs, utterly shocked. Why was he helping her?

"Thank you. Here are your books miss." the woman handed the 5 rather thick books to Hermione. Hermione slid the books to the edge and picked them up. She waved her wand at the books and turned them miniature. She then dropped them inside her jean pockets and looked towards the blonde. "Thank you, Malfoy, but I didn't need your help." Hermione snapped at him.

"Eh." he said, his ignorant self.

"Why are you helping me anyways?" she asked, curiosity getting the best of her. "Why the sudden change?" she smirked.

"Cos I just want to. People can change, Granger." Draco countered.

"Well, not Malfoys." Hermione said.

"Oh, and how would you know that?" he asked smirking.

"If you really had changed, Malfoy, you would have never called me a Mudblood yesterday." she replied.

"You know what? You would never understand anyways. I'm out of here." he wavered his hand and exited out of the bookshop, knowing that what the know-it-all had just told him back there was true - every last bit of it. But now, he really was going to change. He was determined to show that to everyone who though otherwise of him. He was going to show them that Malfoys can have a change of heart, especially a certain brunette know-it-all.

Hermione scoffed and walked across to Teen Glimmer to her red head friend.

When she entered the shop, she straight away spotted the flaming red hair and walked towards it.

Ginny was turning side to side, admiring how good she looked in her glittering dress. She posed in front of the mirror and walked back, imitating a model on a catwalk. She strutted closer to the full body mirror, posing again.

Hermione had to admit, her best friend looked amazing in her glittering dress. However she never knew that the red head could one day make a great model. "Gin, you looked amazing!" Hermione beamed. "You could make a great model, you know." Ginny blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks 'Mione. You really think so? I've actually always wanted to become a model." Ginny admitted.

"Really? I think you could make it bid if you joined the modelling industry." Hermione said.

"I can't, though. I've already got Quidditch." Ginny frowned slightly, though she had always wanted to be a Professional Quidditch player.

"Oh, right." Hermione remembered. "I say you get that dress, though. It looks perfect on you."

"Okay, I will." Ginny said. She flashed herself out of the sparkly dress and back into her muggle clothes. The two girls strode to the counter to pay for the dress.

"1000 Galleons please." the overly made up woman said.

"What?" 1000 Galleons?!" Ginny shrieked as if she had seen a mouse.

"Yes, miss. This is one of our best designs." the woman gleamed.

"Maybe I'll get it another time." Ginny frowned. She walked back to return the dress back to the clothes line and sighing sadly exited the shop.

"Hey, you're gonna get it another time, right? So relax." Hermione assured her.

"What if it's not there anymore?" Ginny asked, accusingly. Hermione sighed, she was not good at cheering people up. "Let's just go home." Ginny said.

"Wait!" Hermione called, an idea had popped up in her mind. "Let's go to The Three Broomsticks." Hermione suggested. She didn't let Ginny reply, she just pulled her and they both apparated to Hogsmeade.

"I challenge you to a Drink Down, Draco. Do you accept? Or are you too a chicken to compete against me?" Blaise imitated a chicken's cluck, trying to provoke the platinum headed Slytherin.

"No way, man! You're on!" Draco said with full confidence.

1st glass: Draco and Blaise gulped it down in one go, with ease.

2nd glass: Another one gone down with ease.

3rd glass: The burning sensation in their throat started to build up, but they none the less consumed the Firewhiskey.

4th glass: The burning in their throat increased, causing Draco and Blaise to slightly impair their vision.

5th glass: Their throats felt like they were ablaze, but they continued to drink the whiskey.

6th glass: Blaise began to feel nauseous and regurgitated the red alcohol, unable to keep it in due to the scorching in his throat. Draco downs his glass slowly, but had managed to finish it, making him the rightful victor of the Drink Down.

"I win…" Draco's speech was slurred due to the 6 glasses of blistering Firewhiskey. He straightened up and put Blaise's arm around his neck so that he would collapse. The duo set off for the Malfoy Manor, signing like a couple of drunkards.

"Hermione, are you sure you want to. You really don't have to, really." Ginny insisted.

"It's okay, Gin. I can handle this. It's just Firewhiskey. You, Harry and Ron drink it, why can't I? Even Malfoy and Zabini do." Hermione said hurt that her best friend doubted her.

"But we're used to it now, 'Mione. And this is much stronger than Butterbeer. Plus, you got drunk and collapsed when you drank just 3 glasses of Butterbeer." Ginny reasoned.

"You're worrying about nothing, Gin. And I told you, someone must have mixed some kind of sleeping draught or something in my beer." Hermione argued. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Fine. But don't tell me I didn't warm you." Ginny said, taking a sip of her own glass of Firewhiskey. Hermione lifted her glass up and commenced gulping down the entire drink in go. She felt the burning sensation in her throat. It actually tasted good. Ginny had to admit, she was impressed, she had thought that Hermione would have collapsed on the first drink. Hermione called for another glass and downed the drink just as quickly as the first one.

"Why didn't you tell me it was this good?!" Hermione enquired, rather too happily, drinking her third glass.

"Um…maybe you should stop now, 'Mione." Ginny suggested.

"Are you kidding me? I just got started!" she said ecstatic. She drank yet another glass down her throat.

"No 'Mione. That's enough! Stop!" Ginny snatched the glass out of Hermione's hand, causing her to whine. "Come on, we're going." Ginny took her friend's hand and held it firmly. She dragged her out of the bar, detecting all the stares they were receiving from the others. They both side along apparated to The Burrow.


	6. Shopping

Ginny knocked on the door of The Burrow, though she could have just apparated in the house. The door opened quite quickly. Mrs. Weasley's worried expression explained that she had seen Hermione state. She helped Ginny drag Hermione into the living room. They both settled down next to the still very drunk Hermione.

"Gin, tell me what happened." Molly demanded.

"Well..." Ginny told the older witch about everything that had happened when she had left from The Burrow. "...so, to cheer me up, she thought that it was a good idea to go to The Three Broomsticks for Firewhiskey. She tries the whiskey and then, well, she got a bit too much into it and had more than she could handle, until I finally stopped her." Ginny finished.

"Let's just be happy she's alright." Molly said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Giiiiinnnnnyyyy! Whhhhhyyyyy ddddiiiidddd yyyoooouuuu mmmaaakkkeee mmmmmeeeeeee ssssttooppp! Iiiiittttt wwwaaasss sssooo nnniiiccceee! Hic." Hermione giggled. She was still a bit drunk to talk properly.

Molly and Ginny shared a glance with each other, and then burst out laughing. It was just so funny, with the bookworm, know-it-all they knew was talking like this. Drunk Hermione laughed too, though not knowing that it her who was being laughed at.

"Okay, Hermione. Let's get you to bed, shall we?" Ginny announced. She got up from the sofa and pulled the brown eyed witch up on her feet and helped her walk to the staircase.

"Draco, why did you drink so much?" Narcissa scolded.

"Blaise challenngggeeeddd mmmmeeee! Hhheeee caaalleeedd mmee aaa cccooowwwaarrdd!" Draco said weakly pointing at the raven haired wizard, who was giggling like a girl.

"I don't care what Blaise called you, you shouldn't have drank so much Firewhiskey!" Narcissa scolded again, a little louder this time.

"But muuummmm..."

"Don't mum me. Go upstairs now." She looked at Blaise. "You too, Blaise. You are grounded, Draco. I am very disappointed in you." She said to him. She turned to Blaise again. "I will talk to your mother about this, and then we'll see who'll be laughing." Narcissa smirked. Blaise was still giggling, despite Narcissa's menacing tone. "Both of you, upstairs. Now."

The two drunken wizards dragged their drunken butts up to their rightful bedrooms.

Narcissa levitated a piece of parchment and a self inking quill towards the table that sat in front of her and began writing.

Hermione woke from her slumber with a pounding headache. She messaged her temple with her hand, trying to reduce the pain, but obviously the pain would not reside.

"You're up. You alright now?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, Ginny. Why would you possibly be asking me that?" Hermione asked confused.

"Oh, well, hmm, let me see...because you had a hangover last night." Ginny stated.

"What?! No! Tell me that not true!" Hermione cried.

"Okay, it's not true." Ginny joked. Hermione glared at the red head. This was not funny.

Hermione then burrowed into the bathroom. She reprimanded herself for getting so drunk. It was not like her to do that. She was most definitely not going to drink Firewhiskey again. Ever.

She just continued on her normal routine, not allowing last night's event affect her.

"Draco! Breakfast is ready!" Narcissa called from the dining table.

Draco covered his head under his pillow. He didn't want to get up, partly because he was still tired, but mostly because he had a massive headache that refused to go away.

"Krissy, please would you wake him up?" Narcissa asked to the house elf.

"Yes, Mistress Malfoy." The blue eyed elf clicked her fingers and apparated to Draco's room.

When she got inside, she snapped her fingers again and there appeared a feather. She walked towards Draco's still sleeping form, to his feet. She brushed the feather so lightly against the soles of his feet. He twitched slightly. Krissy giggled and did the action again, but it seemed that Draco would not budge. Suddenly, an idea popped up in her little elf head. She conjured up a can. She walked to the side of the bed and sprayed a white like cream on Draco's hand. She then used the feather, brushing his nose. Draco lifted his hand and scratched his nose, causing all the white cream to be smothered all over his face. Draco quickly sat upright as he felt a slight tingling sensation on his face. He then turned to his side to a giggling Krissy and knew immediately that she had done some mischief. He quickly bolted for the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

"Arrrggggghhhhhhh!" he cried. He saw that his face was slowly forming purple spots.

Blaise abruptly got up from his slumber, causing him to topple over the bed. He groaned, rubbing his head. Who in Merlin was that? That got him woken up. He went to the bathroom and had his shower before descending down to the dining table for breakfast.

"Krissy! Take them off!" Draco shouted at the sniggering house elf.

"Mistress Malfoy asked Draco to come down for breakfast." She said.

"Yes, I heard." He said.

"But Draco didn't wake up." Krissy stated innocently. "So Mistress Malfoy asked Krissy to wake Draco up."

"Well, a shake would have been fine, thank you very much. You didn't have to go this far." Draco chided.

Krissy was still snickering, but she bowed and disapparated out of the room.

"Krissy, wait! Get these spots off my face!" Draco shouted after the already vanished house elf. He looked back into the mirror. "My beautiful face." He said touching his face completely covered in purple spots.

Hermione burst out in laughter. "Oh, that's hilarious!" she exclaimed between giggles.

"Hermione? Why are you laughing so suddenly?" Ginny asked concerned for her best friend.

"Malfoy's got purple spots all over his "beautiful" face! And the most funny part is that it was his house elf did it to him!" she laughed even more loudly.

"Hermione, what are you talking about? Malfoy's not even here." Ginny said worriedly. Ginny raised her hand up to Hermione's forehead and felt her temperature. She seemed to be fine. No fever or anything, so why was she acting like this.

Hermione looked at Ginny confused, then thought, how was it possible for her to see Malfoy from her? Okay, that was weird. Maybe it's from the hangover. Yeah, probably, she assured herself. You see, this is what happens when you get drunk. Never do this to yourselves, guys. If you don't want anyone to think you have gone sane, never get drunk.

The two witches descended down the stairs.

"Good morning, Hermione." Molly greeted.

"Good morning, Molly." Hermione said. She sat down at the table and helped herself to breakfast. Ginny came to sit beside her and did the same.

When she finished, she washed the dishes in the sink, though Molly told her she could do it herself.

As soon as she was finished, she went to the living room. She hasn't read a book for a while now. She should do that now, she decided. "Accio the Great Necessities." She said.

The book rose up from the bedside table and levitated out of the room.

Ron opened the door and walked towards the stairs. "Ow!" he exclaimed when he felt something hit his head. He turned around to see a floating book. It levitated past him this time, down the stairs to the living room. Hermione and her big, fat books, he thought. He shook his head and descended the stairs.

He grabbed all the food he could reach and munched on it like a pig.

Ginny looked at her brother disgusted by his table manners. He was so messy. She walked into the living room and found another sense of disappointment. Hermione buried in one of those fat books of hers. Honestly, the girl did not know how to have fun. "Hermione, let's go out." Ginny said, pushing the book down on Hermione's lap so that she could see her.

"Go where, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. Jus'...out." Ginny noticed that Hermione wasn't listening anymore. She pulled the book away and tossed it to the side. Then Ginny suddenly remembered something very important. "Hermione! You have your date today! With Jake!"

"Oh my God! I completely forgot. What am I going to do? What am I going to wear?" Hermione asked in a panic.

"Hermione, calm down. Don't worry. That what I'm here for. Come on. We're going shopping." Ginny pulled Hermione to her feet and dragged her out of the house, despite her many protests.

They both apparated to Diagon Alley. "Come on, I know the perfect place to find you an amazing dress." Ginny said.

"Ginny, I've already got dresses. When I said what I was going to wear, I didn't mean that I had no dresses. I have plenty of dresses." Hermione stated.

"You call those dresses? Seriously, 'Mione? That is just sad." Ginny said sympathetically.

"They are dresses!" Hermione cried, but she was still dragged by the red head into the store.

"Welcome to H&G. How may I help you?" an overly made up woman in what seemed like her thirties asked too enthusiastically.

"My friend here had a date tonight and she needs a gorgeous dress for him." Ginny said.

"Right this way." The woman said excitedly.

They were led to a section with only dresses in it. Hermione and Ginny looked around, the helper doing the same to find the perfect dress.

"Here you are. Try these on." The helper suggested. Hermione quickly changed into the first dress that she got her hands on. She looked into the mirror that was in the changing room. It was a crimson dress, elongating down to her knees. It was tight fitting and hugged her body perfectly, her curves easily visible. She did look beautiful in it. She stepped out of the changing room to show Ginny and the assistant. They looked at her in awe.

"You look gorgeous!" they said in unison.

"Okay, let's not do that again." Ginny said, weirded out slightly. The assistant nodded. Ginny looked at her friend again. "You are definitely getting that dress." Hermione didn't argue because she wanted to get the dress too.

As soon as they purchased the dress, Hermione immediately wanted to go home.

"We can go home now, right?..." Hermione asked hopeful.

"Not quite. I have one more thing to do. You see, Teddy's birthday is coming up next week and he's coming at The Burrow on Wednesday. So I need to get the little squirt his present." Ginny explained.

"Oh, right. I need to get him a present too. What are you gonna buy for him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. Maybe his own broomstick?" Ginny grinned.

"I think he's loved that." Hermione said. "I'm gonna go to Flourish and Blott's and find a present for him there." She smiled. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm going to be just there. Meet you back here in a few minutes or so." Ginny said. Hermione nodded and both of them parted their ways.

The smell of the book store always gets Hermione. She felt drawn to the smell and let it lead her again.

Draco was playing Quidditch with Blaise outside, where they had their own pitch. Draco had gotten hold of the Quaffle and was flying towards the goal post. He threw it towards the left goal, hoping that it would go in, and it did.

"He shoots and he scores!" Draco put up his hands in triumph. Blaise stuck his tongue out and mumbled it as a 'lucky shot', but Draco knew that it wasn't. It was just pure talent.

Draco flew down on the ground and sat down on the bench. Blaise did the same when he landed.

"Had any of those weird visions of yours today?" Blaise asked.

"No." Draco said.

"That's weird. Oh well, at least they're gone now." Blaise stated the obvious.

"Yeah." Draco said.

"Hey, there's a new club opening tonight. You want to go?" Blaise asked eagerly wanting to go clubbing.

"Yeah, what the heck! Let's go!" Draco said. With that, the duo headed inside to freshen up.


	7. Misty Rail

She went to the children's section and commenced on choosing a book for Teddy. The Lion King, Cinderella, Snow White, The Jungle Book, Bambi, The Incredibles, 101 Dalmatians, and last but not the least, Hermione's favourite – Beauty and The Beast. She had to think what the little sprout would like.

So she came to a decision, she was going to buy three books – The Incredibles, Beauty and The Beast, thought it was quite girly, she was almost sure her nephew would like it. The last book was Above The Clouds; it was all about Quidditch which Hermione knew Teddy loved. He would always watch Harry, Ginny and Ron flying around in the backyard of The Burrow when he would visit. Every time he would hint to Tonks about how he would love having his own broomstick, though it wasn't much of a hint considering that he would pester his mum for it.

Hermione walked up to the woman behind the counter and handed the three books over. Hermione noticed that it was same person she had seen the other day.

"4 Galleons and 6 Sickles please." She smiled. Hermione reached for her purse, this time remembering to bring it along with her, and handed the money over.

"Thank you. Have a nice day." The woman smiled, passing the three books back to Hermione.

"Thank you. You have a nice day too." Hermione smiled back. She exited the shop and went to wait for the red headed friend to hurry up.

She glanced at her wrist watch. It was 3.30 already. Wow, time went by really quick.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Hermione spotted the red head stepping out of the shop and was heading towards her. "Took you long enough." Hermione said.

"Yeah well, I couldn't decide if I should buy The NightChaser or The Flash 2000. So I brought both." Ginny grinned smugly. "And there was quite a big line."

"Alright, are we done? Cos it's almost 4 o'clock." Hermione stated, checking her watch.

"What?! Oh my God, you need to get ready for your date! Come on, quick!" Ginny quickly grabbed Hermione's wrist and apparated the both of them back to The Burrow.

The women went hurriedly upstairs. Ginny took out the dress Hermione had bought for herself and lied it down on the bed. Ginny opened the cupboard and picked out a pair of 3 inch heels, causing Hermione to protest was ignored. Ginny saying that the heels were needed.

"Get ready. And quick, because we still have to get your hair done." Ginny explained. Hermione grasped the dress and burrowed into the bathroom to get changed.

Hermione finally came out when Ginny called out to her. Ginny pulled Hermione to a chair and commenced on getting her hair to look breathtaking.

She pointed her wand and Hermione's hair. A strand of hair flew outwards and then wrapped itself around the back of her head. Then another strand was wrapped around to the left, criss-crossing the other strand in the middle. Then a handful of hair flew up and folded upwards, another handful wrapping itself around the fold. Ginny stepped back, admiring her good hair styling skills. "Okay, what do you think?" she asked as she held out a mirror for Hermione to see her artwork from.

Hermione took it and looked at her hair. She looked really beautiful. The hairstyle Ginny had done somehow suited her plain crimson dress perfectly.

"Ginny...I don't know how to thank you..." Hermione was in utter astonishment. She embraced her best friend, letting her know that she was thankful for her help.

"You're welcome. Now come on, get into those heels and show me you can strut your stuff." Ginny winked, resulting in Hermione to blush. She moulded her feet into the heels and tried to stand up; however, she was having a little trouble in doing so. Ginny chuckled at her attempts and decided to help the girl out.

"Thanks Gin."

"It's alright. Now just walk slowly and they'll soon wear in." Ginny instructed. Hermione obeyed and started to walk across the room, slowly and carefully. Soon, she was able to walk at a normal pace in those god forsaken heels. She looked at the clock. It was almost 7:30; her date would be coming any minute. She looked in the mirror, putting some last minute touches to her make up when she heard Molly Weasley summon her from the living room.

"Hermione, someone's here to see you!" she called. She heard footsteps coming down and saw Hermione. "You look amazing, my dear. You have fun." Molly hugged the brown eyed witch lovingly.

"Thank you, Molly." Hermione smiled. She turned towards her date. He was wearing a simple black suit with a white bow tie but he sure looked handsome. He held out a hand for Hermione to take. She obliged and Jake kissed her hand gently, making her turn scarlet.

"You look beautiful, Hermione." He complimented.

"Thank you." Hermione said.

"Shall we go?" he asked. Hermione simply nodded. Jake intertwined their fingers together as they apparated to their destination.

"This way, quick!" Draco whispered. Blaise followed behind. They tiptoed out of the Malfoy household and ran from there so that Narcissa wouldn't spot them.

Thinking it to be far enough Draco stopped bent down to catch his breath. Blaise looked behind for a second before stopping himself in his tracks to catch his breath, but when he looked back to the front, he bashed into Draco, resulting in them falling quite hard on the ground. Blaise was on top of Draco.

"Get off of me, you idiot!" Draco shouted. Blaise quickly got up and straightened himself out.

Draco got up, the first thing he was give Blaise a thwack on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Blaise cried. "I'm sorry, dude, okay? It was an accident." Blaise said.

"You better not do that again or next time you will not be just bruised." Draco warned. Blaise gulped and nodded, knowing what the platinum blonde was capable of. "Now what's that new club called?"

"Misty Rail." Blaise said and led the way to the club, Draco following behind.

"I'm taking you to two placed, if that's alright with you." Jake said.

"Sure." Hermione said.

"Great. Well, first, we're going to Magnus for dinner. Then we're gonna go to Misty Rail. It's this new club that's opened up. Are those places alright?" he asked nervously.

"Alright. But I just want to say that I'm not a good dancer." Hermione said, chuckling weakly.

"Don't worry. It will be fine." He assured. He took her hand and led her to Magnus.

"A reservation for Mr Clorset and Ms Granger. Right this way." A man led the couple to a table near a large window, showing a beach.

Jake pulled out a chair for Hermione. She thanked him and sat down. Jake settled down on his own seat. Hermione looked at her menu. Hermione favourite meal was there – Lasagne.

"Are you ready to order?" a waiter asked.

"Yes. I would like Lasagne please." Hermione said. The waiter then looked towards Jake, expecting his order.

"I will have the same. Thank you." Jake handed the menu to the waiter. He smiled at Hermione, Hermione smiling back weakly. She was really nervous, anyone could tell that. Jake reached for her hand that was on the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Hermione nodded and tried to calm down her nerves.

The night actually went perfectly for Hermione so far. Jake was so funny with his stories about his father's antics. He was so sweet.

They both headed for the Misty Rail, walking hand in hand, Hermione's head resting on Jake's shoulder. There was a comfortable silence between them.

"We're here." Jake announced. Hermione looked up at the sign – it was flashing white. They stepped into the entrance and heard the loud blasting music.

"One Firewhiskey, please." Draco said.

"One Martini." Blaise said. Draco looked at him as if he was crazy. "It's a Muggle drink. It's quite good, you know. You should try it sometime." The bartender passed them the two glasses. They both clinkered their glasses and took a sip.

Draco looked around the club and his eyes immediately landed on an auburn haired woman, wearing a black dress going down to mid thigh. She was dancing as if she was born to do it. She was just brilliant and so sexy. Now that girl knew how to have fun. He smirked as he saw her glance at his direction. He placed his glass down and got up from his seat, dancing towards the female that had gotten his attention.

"Hey there, hottie. Wanna dance?" she winked at him.

"Sure." He said and he took her offered hand, letting her pull him to the centre of the dance floor.

She immediately placed Draco's hand on her buttocks and smirked. They both dance to the club music.

After a few minutes of dancing, the woman whispered in Draco's ear in her seductive voice, "I know where we can have some real fun." The warm breath on his neck caused his skin to tingle. He was liking where this was heading to. He nodded and let her drag him away from the crowded dance floor.

On the other side of the dance floor, Hermione and Jake were dancing. Jake was leading the way. "See, you're not bad at dancing." He smiled.

"You're just being kind." Hermione said, blushing. They danced in silence for numerous minutes until Hermione found that she had tortured Jake enough with her terrible dancing. "Um...can we go? I think I've tortured you enough." Hermione said.

"Of course. Come on." They escaped from the crowd and exited the club.

Hermione continued to walk ahead when suddenly a hand grabbed her from behind. She was pulled into a small alley. It was Jake. He placed Hermione's hands to the sides of her head and started kissing her fully on the lips. Hermione began kissing back, loving the feeling. He then pulled away from her lips and trailed small kisses down her neck. Hermione grasped his soft black hair. Then, to Hermione's disappointment, he pulled away, but only to say, "Let's take this somewhere else." Hermione nodded and both of them apparated.

Jake led Hermione to his bedroom. He kissed her again on the lips. Without pulling apart, their clothes became discarded on the floor as they laid on the bed.

Hermione's head snuggled on Jake's bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. "Goodnight, Hermione." Jake whispered and kissed her head softly.

"Goodnight, Jake." Hermione said.

Draco devoured the woman with his kiss. His tongue explored her mouth as she granted him access. She pulled his shirt over his head while still kissing him. Draco did the same with her dress, unzipping it from the back. She let the dress fall, revealing sexy, black lingerie. Draco smirked, oh yeah; he couldn't wait to get a good taste of her. They went back to kissing, until Draco decided to trail kisses down the nape of her neck, causing a moan of pleasure to escape from her lips.

They continued to kiss each other senseless as the moon watched in the distant, dark sky.

**I hope you like it. **** I really hope it's up to your standards. Hope I haven't disappointed you in any way; If I have, then I'm sorry.**


	8. Back To Work

Draco woke up from his amazing slumber. He turned to his side and saw no one. He frowned. Where was that beautiful girl? He sat and looked around the room for his clothes since he was practically naked in the bed. But he couldn't find them anywhere! He pulled the sheets along with him and wrapped them around himself.

He commenced tearing the room apart. Still nothing! Then his eyes widened in realisation. That girl just robbed him!

"That bitch!" Draco apparated himself out of the empty room to his bedroom.

"Draco?" he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned around and found Blaise. "Why the hell are you in those bed sheets?" he asked the platinum blonde. Then he recalled Draco going with that sexy girl from the club. "Oh, how did it go?" he wiggled his eyebrows. "Was she good?" he teased.

"Would you at least let me get into my clothes first!?" Draco snapped. Blaise lifted his hands in surrender and waited for the blonde wizard to get dressed.

Draco told his best friend everything, though it was absolutely humiliating! Draco Malfoy had never been ransacked. "...So yeah, that's how I ended up in those bed sheets." Draco finished.

Blaise pursed his lips, trying so very hard not to laugh at his friend's idiocy, but he just couldn't keep it in. He finally burst out in laughter. Draco just glared daggers at the raven haired wizard. "It's. Not. Funny."

"Yes...ha-ha...it...ha-ha...is. Haaaaa." He said between laughter.

"Stop laughing, you bastard!" Draco practically screamed.

Hermione couldn't contain her laughter, so she cracked.

"'Mione, you alright?" a worried red head asked. "Seriously, what is with these random laughing moments? It's been happening since yesterday. You don't have a fever or anything do you?"

Hermione stopped and thought about what she had seen. Draco Malfoy had been ransacked by the girl he had sex with. That was beyond hilarious...but, how could she see all that? She nowhere near his presence, so why and how was it possible to see him? She shook her thoughts. Maybe these visions will go away after a while. Yeah, they would...right?

"Gin, I'm okay. I think it's just the Firewhiskey that's still in my system. It'll probably subside." Hermione assured.

"Okay, but if they don't, I am taking you to St. Mungos. Do you understand?" Ginny insisted.

"Alright. I gotta go now. Bye." She grabbed a piece of toast and left for the Ministry.

"What's all this noise?" Narcissa enquired. She glanced at Draco and looked at him angrily. Draco gulped, he knew he was gonna get it now.

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy! How dare you go to that club? After I forbid you to go anywhere other than work!" she shouted.

"Mother, I-" he sighed. "I'm sorry, mother. I promise to ask your permission before I go anywhere." Narcissa looked at her son for a few moments before giving in. She could never be angry at her son for so long.

"Okay, Draco. But remember next time to ask my permission." She warned. Draco nodded quickly. She glanced towards Blaise, who still seemed to be laughing. "Blaise, are you alright, dear?" she asked, concerned that he hadn't lost his sanity.

"Draco...robbed...girl...sex...idiot!" he clutched his sides, trying to contain himself, but apparently for him, it was impossible.

"Draco? You were robbed? By the girl you had sex with?!" she sniggered. How could she even translate Blaise, Draco had no idea. She could seem to keep herself from laughing.

"Mother! Not you too!" Draco whined. He put his fingers in his ears, blocking out the laughter. He then noticed the clock. It was almost 9 o'clock! He needed to get ready for work! "Alright, both of you, out. I'm gonna get late for work. Go!" he pushed them out of the door, closing it shut.

He quickly had a shower and got dressed. He put on his tie, but seemed to be unable to tie it. He just let it be, he was late already.

He descended down and grabbed a piece of toast before apparating to The Ministry. He started to speed walk, hurrying to his office, when he stumbled into a solid figure. He was almost about to fall but slowly, he regained his balance, but unfortunately for the other person, that wasn't the case. He looked to see who had stumbled into, and saw brown hair. Granger.

"Malfoy! Are you blind or something?!" she scolded him.

"I could say the same to you, granger." He smirked. "Now, really I don't have time for chit chat. So if you don't mind, I have some important business to take care of. Good day." He nodded curtly and left Hermione on the floor.

Hermione looked after him in disbelief. He didn't even bother to help her up! What kind of a person was he?! She thought to herself. She lifted herself off the ground and straightened herself up, before going to follow the twat.

Draco looked around his office. That was weird, he thought. Who was the other table for? That's when he heard the booming voice of Hermione Granger. Just when he thought he had gotten rid of her.

"What Granger? Why is it that when I'm trying to get peace, you have to disrupt it?" he asked, whining. "I'm trying to figure out who this second desk is for and you are not letting me. Can you please exit out of my office?" he said as politely as he could.

Hermione smacked Draco round the blonde head. "Malfoy, that's what I was trying to tell you this whole time, you git! That second table is mine! Shacklebolt thought it to be a good idea to keep the department joined together." Hermione explained.

"You have got to be kidding me? I have to endure you?! Every single day?" he looked up, putting his hands towards the sky. "Why Merlin, why? Why do you hate me?" he complained.

"Yeah, well, I'm not so pleased by this adjustment, either. I think it would be best if we just stay on our own sides of the office. Is that clear?" Hermione instructed.

"Whatever, Granger. Just go to your corner and don't bother me." He said, gesturing his hand towards the desk next to his.

Hermione huffed and sat down on her chair with clenched fists. She went onto doing her paperwork, something that she rather enjoyed other than reading of course.

"Of course." He muttered to himself, overhearing what Hermione had just said.

"What are you on about Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you said that you enjoyed doing paperwork other than reading. I was just thinking about how typical of you that is." Draco said confidently.

"I...never said that...I mean I did, but only in my head. I never said that out loud." She said quickly.

"Oh." Was all he said. How the hell did he hear her then when she hadn't even spoken?! He shook his head and went to do his paperwork. Hermione did the same.

He had to catch up with an awful lot of paperwork, which was supposed to be in for tomorrow. He was completely worked out. How was he going to finish this by tomorrow?! He looked towards Hermione. She was working away with her work; she was half way through it! How in Merlin does she do that?! He though, watching in disbelief.

"Do you need anything, Malfoy? Or is that your hobby, to stare at your colleagues whilst they are doing their work?" Hermione asked, without looking away from her paper.

"Me? Stare at you? In your dreams, Granger." He looked back to his pile of papers and commenced working through the lot.

It was nearing lunch time. Hermione was done with her paperwork and so she left the office to give in. Before doing so, Hermione glanced back to see that Draco was concentrating very hard to do this work, but he seemed to be struggling. A lot. She smirked and exited the office.

"Malfoy, it's lunch time. Aren't you going to come?" Hermione asked.

"As you can see, I'm a bit busy right now, Granger. So it would be helpful if you just get out of here and allow me to continue, please. If you would." He said.

Hermione looked at him. How rude could he get? She was trying to get him to relax! Her vision had gotten impaired. She knew she was on the verge of crying, so she turned away and exited the office, slamming the door shut.

She didn't know why she was getting so upset. It's not like he hadn't been rude to her like that before. Honestly, what was happening to her?

Draco banged his fist on his desk. He knew he had hurt her. Why was he acting like that? He had promised himself that he would try to be civil towards her, but no. What did he do? He hurt her again! He was so stupid! He had to apologise to her but first, he should quickly finish his work.

Hermione ran out of the Ministry, tears rolling down her face. She stumbled into a solid figure and apologised when she found Jake, her boyfriend. He looked at her worried. "Hermione, what happened?" he asked. Hermione just hugged him, sobbing hardly on his shoulder, though she didn't know why. I mean, it was Draco Malfoy for crying out loud! What can you expect from him? Jake stroked her hair, letting her cry.

She let go and wiped her tears from her cheeks. "Now, tell me what happened?"

"It's nothing. It was just an argument I had with my colleague. It was stupid." Hermione wavered.

"Are you sure?" he asked, obviously not convinced. She nodded, so he let it go, just this once.

"So where do you want to go for lunch?" he enquired.

"Anywhere." Hermione said.

"Alright, then. Let's go to anywhere." He said, causing her to chuckle lightly. He pulled her along with him towards a small cafe.

Hermione kissed Jake goodbye and entered the Ministry. She took the lift to her department and immediately went to her office.

She quietly walked to her desk and took her seat. She noticed that she had gotten more paperwork. She got to it right away, not wasting a minute.

Draco had finally completed his work and exited the office to hand it in.

When he returned to the office, he settled down on his seat, twirling around out of boredom as he seemed to have nothing else to do. He looked towards the brown haired witch, who was working away with yet another pile of paperwork. She was concentrating very hard, but by the look on her face, she looked like she could use some help as she had more than two huge stacks of paperwork. He sighed.

"Granger, do you need some help with that?" he asked. Hermione looked up at the blonde and narrowed her eyes at him, as if he had some scheme planned.

"No thank you, Malfoy. I'm fine." Hermione huffed and returned back to her work.

"Fine. I was only trying to help, sheesh." He grumble. Hermione decided to ignore him and complete the important documents.

There was a knock on the door. A figure entered inside, holding a bouquet in her hand.

"Miss Granger, this was sent for you." The red lipped woman placed the bouquet on the space available on Hermione's desk.

Hermione looked at the flowers. They were white roses. She looked inside for any sign of a note and saw a white piece of paper attached. She read the writing:

Just to cheer you up

Jake

Hermione smiled, she really appreciated her new boyfriend trying to cheer her up. He was so sweet.

Draco looked at Hermione and scoffed.

"Is there a problem, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, having heard him scoff.

"Oh no, there's no problem at all." Draco said. Hermione looked away and put the bouquet back on her desk. She would put them in a vase later; first she would complete her work.

Hermione glanced at the clock. She had an hour before the day ended and she seemed to be nowhere near finishing her work. She seemed to be panicking. How was she supposed to finish this huge stack in front of her in one bloody hour?!

Draco apparently noticed this and walked over to her desk. He voluntarily took half of the stack of the stack of the documents and placed them on his own desk. Hermione looked up at him. "If we work together, we will finish it quicker. That's what Shacklebolt wants us to do, right?" Draco said a matter of factly.

Hermione didn't argue, just went back to completing her half of the documents at hand. Draco doing the same on his desk.

Draco was almost done with his pile. He looked to his side; Hermione seemed to be almost done too. They would finish it in no time.

Hermione signed the last document and placed it on top of the completed pile. She was done! Finally! She looked at the time, it was ten to 7.

She looked towards Draco who looked about finished with his last document too. He settled his self inking quill and laid back on his chair to relax, relief washing over him.

She looked at the flowers that had been sent for her and decided to put them in a vase. She conjured it with her wand and out the bunch inside it, rearranging them for good decoration on her side of the office.

Draco stood up from his desk and put on his coat. Hermione noticed it was time to leave and did the same.

They looked at each other and quickly make their way for the door first. Honestly, if the Minister saw them like this, he would think they were little children fighting for first place. None would allow the other to go through fist, so both stumbled out of the door together. They looked around, and straightened themselves out. They both looked at each other and turned away, making their way to the doors of the Ministry. They looked at each other once again and parted ways, Hermione going right and Draco going left.


	9. Apologies

Hermione plumped herself on the sofa. She was exhausted.

"Hey 'Mione." A quiet voice said from behind her. She looked at who it was – Ron. She looked away; she still hadn't forgiven him yet for breaking her heart.

"_No! I never meant for this to happen! How can you be pregnant?! This is too early. I'm sorry, Hermione, I can't handle this. I'm not ready for all this. We're not even married." The ginger head exclaimed. Hermione's vision was blurred, as she tried to keep her tears back, but it was no use, they easily trickled down her tanned cheeks. Ron exited out of her apartment, slamming the door shut. He walked into the bloody rain, pouring over his ginger head._

"_Ron!" Hermione bawled; she was far away from her, far away from reach. He had left her and her baby. Her perfect world had completely shattered like a mirror. She slid down the wall, pouring her heart out._

_Suddenly, Hermione heard a honking sound up ahead. It seemed to be driving towards the taxi. Hermione screamed at the driver to go the other way, the driver obeyed, and made a sharp turn to the left, causing the cab to collide...into another cab._

_Nothingness.  
_

_I'm sorry, Hermione, but, your baby…it didn't survive the crash. You've had a miscarriage." Jenna hugged Hermione again, crying on her shoulder, while Hermione looked utterly shocked. She placed her hand on her abdomen, clutching onto to it tightly._

"_No! You're lying! Dad, please tell me mum is lying!" she demanded, tears flooding and impairing her vision. Her dad couldn't bear to make eye contact with his daughter, knowing what was to come._

Tears were streaking down her face, remembering the accident that took away her precious life, her unborn baby. Every time she thought about Ron leaving her, she thought about that accident, though it was not his fault in any way. She was about to escape to her bedroom before Ron's hand stopped her.

"Hermione, please. Just hear me out. If you don't want to forgive me then, then I won't say anything." Ron said. Hermione turned to look into Ron's eyes and waited for him to speak.

"Look, I know I'm not worthy of your forgiveness but I just want to say that I'm sorry, for the hurt I've caused you, for leaving you when you were pregnant, for leaving you when you needed me the most. I never meant to hurt you this much that you would have miscarriage. That was my entire fault, if I hadn't left you, our baby would still be alive. I'm very sorry, 'Mione." Ron apologised.

Hermione looked into those blue eyes and felt teary eyed. "Ron, my miscarriage was not your fault, okay. If anything, it was mine for taking Muggle transport to my parents' house."

"You were only thinking about the baby. You knew you could apparate without someone by your side so that the baby wouldn't be harmed in anyway." Ron reasoned.

Hermione embraced the red head tightly. Ron hugged her back lovingly, knowing that she needed comforting. She let go and gave a watery smile. "I forgive you, Ron." She simply said.

"Oh, Hermione, really, because it's totally fine if you still don't want to." Ron added quickly.

"Are you trying to change my decision? –Ron, really, I forgive you." Hermione chuckled. She received a massive hug from Ron and happily hugged him back. She was happy she had her best friend back.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ron beamed.

"Okay, okay, now can you let me go? I need to take a shower." Hermione chuckled.

"Oh, I thought so I smelled something weird in here." Ron joked, causing Hermione to playfully hit him on the arm.

Hermione made her way the shower. She rinsed herself thoroughly before stepping out in her pyjamas. That was when she heard a tap on the window. She walked towards it and opened it, allowing the majestic eagle owl to enter. She detached the note on its foot after giving it treat. The cursive writing said:

_Granger,_

_I'm sorry_

_DM._

Hermione smiled at the sight of those two words. Draco Malfoy was apologising, to her, who he had considered dirt on his shoe. She never thought she would see the day when he would apologise, to especially her. She decided she would write him back and so, she got out a piece of parchment and wrote:

_Malfoy,_

_Apology not accepted._

_HG._

She smirked as she watched the owl fly away. She had forgiven him, but she just wanted to have a little fun. She enjoyed annoying him and she did that quite often. She was going to make him say sorry to her face to face or she would not accept it – well, that's what he will believe. She smirked in satisfaction at her little plan, when the door opened, revealing her best friend, Ginny.

"What are you smirking about?" Ginny asked, knowing that her friend was scheming. Hermione showed Ginny the note. Ginny's eyes widened, then looked at Hermione for an explanation.

"He was being rude to me the whole day, and you know what's even worse? I have to share an office with him now, Shacklebolt believing it to be a good idea to keep the department joined." Hermione said. She then smirked again, intimidating Ginny's. "So, I wrote a reply, saying I didn't accept his apology. Well, I did, but I just want to see if he will say it to me, face to face. Then only will I accept his apology." Hermione explained.

"Well, damn right, he deserves it!" Ginny concluded. Hermione chuckled at that statement. "Hey, if you need anything for revenge, just ask me. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Ginny winked.

"Sure will, Gin." Hermione smiled. She yawned extending her arms out and walked slowly to her bed. She slipped into bed with a smirk on her face, worthy of Malfoy - if I may say so. She can just imagine the look of annoyance on his face right now.

What Hermione didn't know, was that she was doing more than just imagining...

"What?! How can she not accept my apology?!" Draco cried in disbelief.

"Um, let see...because you don't deserve it." Blaise smirked, resulting in Draco smacking him on the back of his head to shut him up.

"What does she want me to do? To say it in front of the whole ministry?! What is her problem? She should just accept it, knowing that I don't say sorry to people often." Draco complained.

"That is true. You didn't even ever say sorry to me when you got me into trouble so many times, especially in Hogwarts. There's still time, you know." Blaise hinted.

"Why are you after her forgiveness so much, Draco?" a voice sounded from the door. Draco and Blaise turned around and looked towards the door where Narcissa was standing.

"Because I just want it. There does not need to be reason." Draco lied.

"Don't lie to me, Draco. You know you can't lie to me. Spit it out." Narcissa said.

"I had promised myself that I would stop being cruel to He- Granger, but instead, I did the opposite. We were put in the same office because the Minister believed that it would be a good idea to keep the department joined together. But instead of being civil towards her, I was off being rude. I saw how hurt she was by my words, mother. I saw her cry because of me! I had no intention of doing that, but I did it anyways...I...I don't like to see her cry, mother. I-I don't know why, but it hurts me to see her hurt." Draco explained.

Narcissa and Blaise looked at Draco and then at each other. They were in disbelief, he had never wanted anyone's forgiveness so badly before. Hermione must have really affected him. Narcissa placed her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Just apologise to her, dear. She needs to know that you are genuinely sorry. She probably thinks that you are a coward, sending her a note like that." Narcissa reasoned, and she was right, Draco knew that.

"Alright, mother. I will do that tomorrow." Draco sighed.

"Okay, dear. Now get to bed, you need to wake up early again tomorrow for work. Goodnight." She kissed her son on his forehead and exited the bedroom, with a hint of a smirk on her face, though Draco had not noticed it.

It was Blaise's turn to speak.

"Dude, you like her!" he sang.

"What?! No! How the hell did you come with that conclusion?!" Draco cried, suddenly feeling heat rise up to his cheeks, it's probably due to the heat, he thought. He couldn't believe his best friend was thinking of something that stupid as this.

"You like her! You like her!" he chimed again. Draco pointed his wand at Blaise secretly so he wouldn't see and muttered the silencing spell. Blaise's voice was not to be heard anymore.

Ah, how peaceful it was when he was not talking, Draco thought smiling. He smirked at the raven haired wizard, who still hadn't noticed that Draco had silenced him. He was still singing the words again and again. Draco chuckled and went straight to bed.

Blaise continued to sing, but suddenly stopped. He glared daggers at the platinum blonde, who had his back turned to him. Oh, he was going to pay for this, Blaise thought. He pointed his wand at him to remove the spell and then pointed it at Draco, who seemed to be sound asleep. He muttered a spell at his sleeping form and smirked in satisfaction. He then went straight to bed after looking back at his best friend.

"Goodnight, Draco."


	10. Just Friends - Part 1

Hermione got up from her slumber and commenced on her daily routine.

When she got in the bathroom, she couldn't help but think about the vivid dream she had about Malfoy.

"Why are you after her forgiveness so much, Draco?" a voice sounded from the door. Draco and Blaise turned around and looked towards the door where Narcissa was standing.

"Because I just want it. There does not need to be reason." Draco lied.

"Don't lie to me, Draco. You know you can't lie to me. Spit it out." Narcissa said.

"I had promised myself that I would stop being cruel to He- Granger, but instead, I did the opposite. We were put in the same office because the Minister believed that it would be a good idea to keep the department joined together. But instead of being civil towards her, I was off being rude. I saw how hurt she was by my words, mother. I saw her cry because of me! I had no intention of doing that, but I did it anyways...I...I don't like to see her cry, mother. I-I don't know why, but it hurts me to see her hurt." Draco explained.

Narcissa and Blaise looked at Draco and then at each other. They were in disbelief, he had never wanted anyone's forgiveness so badly before. Hermione must have really affected him. Narcissa placed her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Just apologise to her, dear. She needs to know that you are genuinely sorry. She probably thinks that you are a coward, sending her a note like that." Narcissa reasoned, and she was right, Draco knew that.

"Alright, mother. I will do that tomorrow." Draco sighed.

Then, the dream was somehow disconnected? If that was possible. It was so vivid, it seemed so real, but she knew it couldn't be. The Draco Malfoy she knew would never say or even think something so caring or nice about her. She knew him too well to believe that weird dream. One thing she did like though was that he gave her the idea of making him apologise in front of the Ministry. She will definitely as that of him, if he wants to be forgiven. She placed her thoughts aside and finished her shower.

She had her delicious breakfast before she bade Molly goodbye and apparated to the Ministry.

Nothing could go wrong on this day, she thought.

Hermione will find out just how wrong she is today...

She opened the door to her shared office and noticed that Dr-Malfoy was not present yet.

She sat down at her desk, and just as she did that, she heard the door open. In walked their secretary, Liz.

"The minister sent these for you and Mr Malfoy."

"Oh please, call me Draco, Liz." He said in a seductive tone. Liz blushed at that and nodded. Hermione rolled her eyes. Typical. Liz passed half of the stack on her desk and half on his, before exiting out.

Hermione started on her pile straight away, but Draco didn't. He was hesitant on how he should do this. He has never apologised to anyone, so he didn't understand why he was starting now, but he felt as if compelled to do it. He cleared his throat attempting to get Hermione's attention, but when she didn't listen, he called out to her. "Granger, I ne-need to tell you something." He stuttered slightly.

This was new – Draco Malfoy, stuttering. She couldn't wait what Merlin had for her next. She looked up with an amused expression and waited for Malfoy to continue.

"I uh...I uh...um..." he couldn't seem to get the words out for some reason, he didn't understand why. It was just Granger.

"Yes..." Hermione smirked inwardly, enjoying the scene of Malfoy struggling.

"I'm s...I'm s..." Damn it, Draco! Spit it out! Just two words and you'll be off the hook! Two words! Spit. It. Out.

"You're..." she waited patiently, still smirking inwardly at his struggle.

"I'm sorry." There, he said it. He finally said it. That wasn't so hard, was it? His mother said inside his head. Harder than you think it is, he replied.

Hermione smiled. He said it. He apologised to her. Now, should she make him do it in front of the Ministry? No, she was not that kind of person. She looked straight into his grey orbs. She seemed to melt into those dreamy eyes –wait a second. What the hell was she thinking?! She shook her head and broke eye contact. "I accept your apology." Hermione said.

"Thank you." Draco said with relief. Hermione was just about to go back to her paperwork when Draco spoke again. "Um...can we be friends, as we've kinda gotten on kinda good terms with each other?" he asked...hopefully?

"Um...sure?" Hermione said confused. He held out his hand for her to accept. Hermione shook it awkwardly. He broke out into a smile. Wow, Draco Malfoy, smiling. That was something you don't see every day. She put her thoughts aside and smiled back.

He went back to his desk and embarked upon getting all his paper work done. Hermione did the same, though still trying to get over the fact that Draco Malfoy wanted to be friends with her and him smiling...now that was really weird.

She went back to her documents and commenced signing them.

"Hey, do you want to go for a coffee?" Draco asked. Okay, this was getting utterly bizarre, Hermione thought.

"Um...okay." she replied.

"Great, I'll just send these off to the Minister and then we'll go." He glanced at her desk. "Do you...want me to take those for you?"

"Yeah...okay." he was up to something, she was sure of it. He had to be. He was acting so nice. Draco Malfoy was never this nice. He walked to her desk and took the stack of papers with him out of the door.

Hermione put her coat on since it was quite cold outside, and waited for Draco to return.

"Shall we go?" he asked, returning. Hermione nodded and smiled to him sickeningly sweetly, playing along to whatever game he had planned on playing with her. He smiled back, as if clueless to what Hermione was trying to do.

They left the doors of the ministry and headed to a small cafe Hermione believed to be newly opened, as she had never seen it before. It was named Parkinson's.

No...It couldn't be. They were going into Pansy Parkinson's cafe. She stopped in her tracks.

Draco walked ahead, and then noticed that Hermione was next to him. He looked back and saw her stopped in her tracks, as if her shoes are glued to the floor. He knew why. He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She won't bite, Granger." She still looked a bit scared. "She's not the same Pansy she used to be. She's changed, okay?" he assured her. She nodded, though still hesitant about this. Draco sighed and grabbed her hand, pulling her inside.

"Hello, how may I –Draco? –Draco!" Pansy Parkinson ran up to him and embraced him lovingly.

"Hi Pans. How are you? How's Theo? You cafe looks wonderful." Draco added.

"Thank you. Oh, Theo's fine. I am, too." She then noticed that he was not alone. "Hi, Granger." She greeted, holding out her hand for Hermione to shake. Hermione awkwardly answered.

"Hi..." she said.

"Pans, a table for two, please." Draco said. Pansy led them to a two seated table.

"Do you want to order now?" Pansy asked them. Draco looked towards Hermione, as if asking her if she wanted to order. She nodded. That small gesture did not go unnoticed by Pansy and she smirked. She knew exactly what was going on here.

"I'll have a..." he studied the menu. "Chocolate muffin and...Vanilla milkshake." Draco said.

"What about you, Granger?" Pansy asked. Hermione seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as she was startled to hear her name.

"Ur...I'll have a Chocolate muffin and Vanilla milkshake." Hermione said, observing the menu.

"Okay, two Chocolate muffins and Vanilla milkshakes coming up." Pansy went behind the counter, into the kitchen to grab their orders.

"How's your boyfriend, Granger? I heard you were dating a serving boy." Draco smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. But wait...how did he know she was going out with Jake? She hadn't even told anyone but the Weasley clan. Maybe he had seen her with him. She was so lost in her thoughts again, that Draco had to wave his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Hello? Granger." He said.

"Huh? Oh, right. He's fine and his name is Jake." Hermione huffed.

"Okay, I was just asking." He said, smirking.

"Here are your muffins and milkshakes." Pansy set them down on the table and left them to eat in peace.

Hermione hadn't thought that she was that hungry, but she was. She was munching away at her muffin like a pig, which was very unladylike for her to do, mind you. But she didn't care, she was just too hungry.

Draco couldn't help but smile. He wanted to laugh, but he tried to keep it in by taking a small bite out of his muffin.

Hermione noticed that Draco was on the verge of laughing and squinted at him. "What? I'm hungry, okay?" Hermione snapped.

"I didn't say anything. Please, continue." He said smiling innocently. Hermione just rolled her eyes at him and returned to her muffin.


	11. Just Friends - Part 2

Draco and Hermione were on this way out of the cafe. They were going to the door, when it opened backwards towards them. Hermione was pushed backwards and she just managed to get her balance, but only because she grabbed...well, rather pushed Draco, unintentionally, of course. What she didn't know was that Draco had been facing his back to her and that Pansy was holding a large cake in her hand.

Draco was pushed face first on the cake, causing it to be smothered all over his face.

Hermione turned around when she heard a squelch like sound from behind her. She saw that Draco had his face in a cake that Pansy was holding.

He slowly removed his face from the cake and turned round.

Hermione was trying so hard not to burst out in laughter. She was about to speak, when Draco interrupted her.

"Don't you dare even think about it." Draco warned. Hermione quickly shut her mouth. "Where is the restroom in this place?" he asked through gritted teeth. Pansy pointed behind the counter. She had her lips pursed, in attempt to contain her laughter.

"Thank you." He said with gritted teeth and walked towards it.

When Hermione and Pansy saw that Draco was out of ear shot, they looked at each other and burst out in laughter.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It was a total accident." Hermione and Pansy looked to where the voice had come from and found that it was Blaise Zabini. This caused them to laugh even harder at the situation.

"Hermione?" Blaise knew who it was that had been smothered with that lovely, delicious cake. "Oh shit, that was Draco, wasn't it?" Blaise asked scared to hell that he was in serious trouble if he ever found out that it was him who had done this to him.

Hermione and Pansy nodded, still giggling about the incident.

"Ur...I'm outta here!" Blaise scurried out of the door and bolted to wherever his feet led him, anywhere would be good right now.

Blaise was so drowned in his thoughts that he didn't pay attention to what was in front of him. He bashed into a solid figure and fell on top of it. He looked at who he had fallen on and found beautiful violet eyes. He just seemed to be in a trance, looking into those mesmerising eyes.

"Hello!? Get off me!" she shouted. Blaise quickly removed his body from the fragile beauty and straightened himself out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall on you like that." He said quickly.

"Don't you watch where you're going? Honestly." She huffed and brushed past him. As she did that, Blaise inhaled her scent and felt like he was in heaven. She smelled like strawberries. He closed his eyes in pleasure.

He was going to find out who she was and make sure that she was in his bed. Oh yeah, he was going to do just that. He smiled like an idiot and walked on. Where? He had no idea, because all on his mind right now was that sexy strawberry.

Draco splashed the water on his face and wiped it, removing the cake frosting off. Ugh, this was all granger's fault, if she hadn't pushed him, he wouldn't have gotten smothered by a cake. And why did Pansy have to be right there, with that large cake in her hand? She always had the greatest of timings(!)

Believing to have finished wiping the frosting off his face, he pulled out his handkerchief and starting wiping his wet face. Whilst doing that, he stepped out of the restroom, only to find his best friend and Hermione laughing their heads off.

Hermione saw that Draco was coming towards them and gestured Pansy to stop laughing. Pansy stopped, placing her fingers on her lips, like a child attempting to stay silent. Hermione looked at the blonde with pursed lips, receiving a deadly glare from him.

"That was not funny, granger. That was your fault it happened in the first place." Draco reasoned as he continued to clean his face with a handkerchief.

"No, it wasn't my fault. This was all because of yourself." Hermione said between giggles, unable to have contained them.

Draco looked at Pansy, who was giggling quite a bit now and glared at her. Pansy noticed that there was still some frosting on his nose, but decided to leave it be. He'll notice it soon, she thought mischievously.

"Is there still some frosting left on my face?" he asked Pansy first. Pansy shook her head. He narrowed his eyes at her and then turned to Hermione. "Is there any frosting left on my face?" he asked her.

"Draco. I'm hurt that you don't believe me." Pansy said in mock hurt.

"Granger, is there anything on my face?" he turned back to Hermione, ignoring Pansy. Hermione spotted the little spot of frosting left on his nose, then, she noticed that Pansy was trying to call her. She glanced at her and acknowledged that she was trying to say something to her. Pansy was waving her hands about and shaking her head, trying to get across the message that she should just say he doesn't have anything on her face. Draco detected that Hermione was looking behind him and turned around. Pansy quickly stopped waving her arms and stood still, smiling innocently at Draco. Draco turned back to Hermione and asked her the question again. She shook her head in refusal. Draco nodded, believing her answer to be true. But, boy was he wrong.

"See, I told you you had nothing on your face, but no, you wouldn't believe me. How is it that you believe Hermione but not your best friend?" pansy accused in mock hurt, emphasising on the word 'best'.

"Because I know you, Pansy Parkinson. You're always trying to prank me, Pansy. Don't think I don't know when you're up to no good." Draco countered. He rolled his eyes. "We should get going now. We have to get to work. See you soon, Pans." Draco hugged her and left the cafe with Hermione behind him.

Hermione glanced behind her and saw that Pansy was giving her a thumbs up and a wink. Hermione smiled. Maybe Pansy Parkinson wasn't so bad after all. She walked up to Draco's side quickly, before he suspected anything.

When they entered their department, all the workers started to look at Draco funnily. Hermione kept her lips pursed, not laughing at all, but on the inside, oh, she was laughing uncontrollably.

"Why are they looking at me like that?" Draco asked, more to himself than to Hermione.

"I don't know." Hermione said, thought she knew very well why they were giving the blonde the funny looks. Draco shook the question off as they both entered their office, both returning to their desks and started on their next pile of important documents.

Hermione wondered how long it would take for Draco to be unaware of the frosting on his pale nose. That was when a knock was heard on the door. The person entered the office, revealing it to be Liz.

"Mr Malfoy, Ms Granger, Mr Shacklebolt wants to see the both of you at the end of the day." Liz said, looking from one to the other. When she looked at Draco though, she spotted a small white mark on his face.

"Urm...Mr Malfoy-"

"Liz, I told you this morning, call me Draco. Please." Draco interrupted, smiling.

"Okay...Draco. You have a...something on your nose..." Liz said, pointing at her nose with her finger.

Draco reached for his nose and brushed it with his finger. He looked at it and knew exactly what it was – cake frosting. He looked at Hermione who seemed to be back to her paperwork. Then, he looked back to Liz. "Thank you, Liz, you may leave now." He said. Liz nodded and exited the office.

"Granger. You did not just do that." Draco said, closing his eyes, trying to contain his annoyance at her.

"Do what, Malfoy?" Hermione asked innocently, pretending that she had no idea what he was on about.

"Don't try to act so innocent. I know you knew about this." He was slowly calculating his thought and came to the realisation. "Pansy put you up to this, didn't she?" he accused.

Hermione started sniggering, confirming Draco's accusation.

"That's not even funny anymore, Granger. Seriously." Draco scoffed.

"Well, the fact that you actually believed me was your fault. You could have checked in a mirror, which I'm pretty sure you keep inside one of your pockets." Hermione remarked.

"Haha, very funny, Granger." Draco drawled. Draco started to attempt fixing his tie now, but it just wouldn't happen.

"Here, let me fix it. Honestly, I would have thought by now you had learnt how to fix your own tie, but I guess not." Hermione stood up from her seat and walked over to Draco's desk, settling down on the edge.

She grabbed the two ends and tied them together. "See, now that wasn't so hard, was...it?" Hermione seemed to go weak under his intense stare.

She stood up from the desk and cleared her throat. Draco stood up from his seat and looked into her chocolate eyes. Hermione hadn't noticed just how close he was to her – just an inch. Too close, Hermione thought, too close. She started to back away from him but slipped. She was almost going to stumble too...if Draco Malfoy hadn't circled his arms around her waist, preventing her from falling. Thinking that she may fall, she circled her arms around Draco's neck.

Their eyes locked and none made a move to move from their current position. Draco was leaning in, slowly. Hermione was panicking, she demanded her body to move, but it was not obeying, again! What was wrong with her?! Hermione, get away from Draco Malfoy! You have a boyfriend for Merlin's sake! Step away...step away! Hermione found that she could finally control her body again and let herself free from Draco's grasp, and straightened herself out.

Draco cleared his throat and awkwardly walked back to his seat and returned to his documents.

'_What the hell were you thinking?! You idiot! She has a boyfriend!_' the voice inside his head scolded.

'_Yeah, a serving boy._' He scoffed. '_She can do much better than that. Well, I guess he's better than Weasel._'

'_I can't argue with you there._' The voice inside his head replied back.

Draco put his thoughts aside and went back to his work.

'_Hermione! He was going to kiss you! Again!_' a voice inside her head cried.

'_Like I didn't know that already._' She scoffed. ' _I know I should have just let him fix his tie by himself. I'm so stupid sometimes._'

'_Like I didn't know that already._' The voice said.

'_Hey! You're not supposed to agree with it! I'll have you know I'm the brightest witch of our generation!_' she exclaimed.

She put her thoughts at the back of her mind and went back to work.

"Come in." Shacklebolt said. Hermione and Draco opened the door, and entered the Minister's office. "Ah, Hermione, Draco. Please, sit down." He pointed to the two seats in front of him. Hermione and Draco settled down and waited for the Minister to speak.

"I have chosen you two to be Aurors, temporarily, for a few days." The two wizards looked at him confused, but excited at the same time. "Both of you will be joining the other Aurors and will be going to Sydney, Australia for a mission to catch the remaining Death Eaters that are in hiding, soon to be rising to create chaos to the wizarding world. Now, I know you both must be thinking why I have chosen you. This is because you are most capable and most experienced at this, as the Death Eaters are heard to be very dangerous. You both have also fought greatly in the war against The Dark Lord. The head of Aurors also agrees to this decision and hopes that you can join him to find those Death Eaters quickly, before they create another war on us." He paused for a second. "So, I am giving you a choice. You can help the Aurors with their mission...or you can continue with your job as wizard lawyers. You may have the rest of this day to think about this. I will need your answers tomorrow morning, as the Aurors are to leave the day after."

"Thank you for the great opportunity, Minister. We will return tomorrow with our answers." Hermione smiled.

"Alright, you both may leave. Have a good day." Shacklebolt said as they made their way to the door.

"You too, sir." Hermione said.

Hermione and Draco headed for the doors of the Ministry. "So, are you going to go?" Draco asked.

"I might. It's definitely a great opportunity." Hermione replied. "What about you?"

"I might. Yeah." He answered.

"Cool." Hermione said, causing Draco to chuckle. "What?" she asked, baffled.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Hermione Granger would say 'cool'." He sniggered.

"What's so funny about that? Loads of people say that." She reasoned.

"Well, from your mouth, it's sound quite funny." He said.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too." With that said, they awkwardly parted their ways, reminiscing when Draco had tried to kiss Hermione.


	12. Invitations

"Oh, Hermione, that's great! I think you should go!" Ginny said excitedly.

"But, Gin, we leave the day after tomorrow and that's just before your wedding day." Hermione frowned.

"Hermione, I've decided to move it to tomorrow, seeing how Harry had to go to Australia, too." Ginny smiled.

"Oh my God! But how are we gonna get everything ready by tomorrow?!" Hermione panicked.

"'Mione, calm down. It's all taken care of. Don't worry. We're setting everything up today. We'll need your help though, since you were so good at decoration when we were at Hogwarts." Ginny praised.

"Sure, I'd be happy to help you any day, Gin." Hermione smiled.

"Okay, then come on! We need to start straight away!" Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her away, out to the backyard.

Everything seemed to be almost set up by Arthur and Molly Weasley. Hermione was pulled inside the tent that Hermione recognised to be the same one that they had a party in before her, Harry and Ron had to escape from the Death Eaters.

Hermione commenced on decorating the tent. Carnations and roses placed inside a vase on the tables. She then conjured up the table, where all the food and more importantly, the wedding cake will be put on.

She decorated the chairs with the colours of green and gold, those being Ginny's favourite colours.

"Hermione, I need you to get these last invitations out. If you wouldn't mind doing that." Ginny handed Hermione a few envelopes, and went back to her mother to help.

Hermione scanned through the envelopes: Neville and Luna, Dean and Lavender, Seamus and Parvati, Padma and Cormac. Those names didn't surprise Hermione at all, but the next ones did to great extent. Ginny had apparently invited Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. Why they were invited, Hermione didn't understand. She shook her thoughts aside; she would ask Ginny later about this. She started to make her way to the Burrow, to find Harry's owl, when Ginny stopped her.

"'Mione, where are you going?"

"To Harry's owl, so I can send these invitations out." Hermione said.

"Oh no, you're not. I want you to give out these invites personally, please." Ginny said.

"But, wouldn't it be easier just to owl them to the people." Hermione suggested, not liking the idea of visiting the few Slytherins on the list.

"No, you need to give them out personally. Please?" Ginny pleaded.

"Fine." Hermione sighed, and was off to her first destination. Neville and Luna's house.

Neville and Luna's had gotten married just a year ago, when Neville finally built up the courage to propose to her, considering that they had been dating for over 2 years.

They had built – yes, built – a house next to Luna's father, Xenophilius. It was quite amazing, actually. They had a large garden at the back, filled with some plants and flowers that Hermione could recognise, such as hyacinths and lavenders, but some were ones only Luna would know about.

Hermione knocked on the door and waited for a reply. The door opened, to reveal Neville wearing an apron, which was covered with flour. "Hi, Hermione." Neville hugged Hermione, despite his dirty apron. He let go quickly and looked at her apologetically. "Uh, sorry, about the flour."

"That's alright, Neville." Hermione waved her wand over her clothes and instantly, the flour vanished.

"Come on in. Luna's just in the living room." Neville stepped aside for Hermione to enter.

Hermione went into the living room and saw Luna, reading The Quibbler, as usual, but something different caught her eye. Luna had a big bulging belly sticking out of her shirt.

"Luna! You're pregnant!" Hermione rushed up to the white blonde and hugged her over the bump.

"Oh, hi Hermione. Yes, I just found out a few weeks ago." Luna said dreamily.

"That's great!" Hermione beamed, and then remembered that she was here to give out their invitation to Ginny's wedding. "Oh, I almost forgot! Here's your invite to Ginny's wedding tomorrow."

"I thought that was on Friday?" Neville inquired.

"Yes, but me, Harry and Ron are going to Australia for a mission on Thursday, so we had to move it to tomorrow." She explained. "So, I'll see you both tomorrow?"

"Of course." Hermione hugged Luna and Neville, who had thankfully taken off his apron.

Hermione bid the couple goodbye and went next door, to Xenophilius Lovegood.

Xenophilius offered her his lovely, delicious tea, but Hermione refused because (1) she was in a hurry, and (2) she had tasted the tea before and she knew it would only come back up, rather than stay in her stomach.

From there, she had visited Dean and Lavender, Seamus and Parvati, and Parvati and Cormac.

Her next stop was one she was slightly dreading – Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott. Sure, Pansy had been alright last time, at the cafe, but that could only be because Dra-Malfoy was there. Wait, how would his being there with her make a difference to Pansy? Anyways! She really needed to watch where she was going because she almost ran into a lamp post. So close.

She looked up at the house; 39 Ridgeway Avenue. She remembered her Grandma Jean living in the same house before she passed away two years ago, due to cancer. She let a tears fall down her cheek as she reminisced the days when her grandmother was around, always joyful and full of life.

She hadn't taken note that she had knocked on the door and that someone had opened it. Hermione looked to who it was and saw Pansy.

"Hermione? What's wrong? Is everything alright?" pansy asked seeing the tears on her cheeks.

"Yeah, it is." Hermione said, confused.

"Then, why are you crying?"

"Oh no. I just remembered that this used to be my grandmother's house, she lived here two years ago, before she...before she passed away." Hermione said, not really knowing why she was telling this to Pansy.

"Oh, you poor thing. Come here." Pansy embraced Hermione, Hermione hugging her back awkwardly. It was weird to think that she could be so nice, when at Hogwarts, all she had been to her, was mean.

"Pans! Who is it?" a voice called from inside.

"Oh, it's Hermione!" she turned back to Hermione and allowed her entrance. "Come in." She smiled. Hermione entered the house and was in awe. The house looked much bigger on the inside. The living room was spread out to the size of the house if you see it from outside.

She saw someone sitting on the sofa and figured it must be Theodore Nott.

"Theo, this is Hermione. Hermione, Theo." Pansy introduced.

Hermione waved her hand awkwardly, Theo doing the same.

"So, what was it you came her for?" Pansy asked.

"Oh, right. Here are your invitations to Ginny's wedding. It got moved because I, Harry and Ron, and some other Aurors are going on a mission to Australia." Hermione explained, before they asked for a reason.

Pansy quickly opened the envelope and found two papers, one was the actual invitation, and the other, Hermione wasn't sure, but by the looks of Pansy, she knew exactly what it was and smiled in delight. Hermione was very curious to know what contained in that note that made her happy.

"Theo! I'm going to be one of Ginny's bridesmaids!" she ran up to her boyfriend and hugged I'm tightly, due to the excitement. Hermione was quite shock, well, no, she was beyond shocked. Pansy was going to be a bridesmaid? What's going to be next? Theodore Not as grooms mate?

"Oh, honey and you're going to be one of Harry's grooms mates!" Pansy squealed. Okay, seriously, what was going on? How did Pansy and Theo become good friends of Ginny and Harry? She was definitely going to ask that red head when she returned to The Burrow.

"Well, I should get going. I still have a few more invites to give out. I'll see you tomorrow." Hermione said.

"Bye!" Pansy said excitedly.

"Bye."

Next stop – Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. She was dreading this so much. How he got an invite, she didn't understand.

She apparated to the gates of The Malfoy Manor. "Okay. Here goes nothing." Hermione said, and walked towards the door.

"Mother! That's not funny! At all." Draco cried. He had told her about the little accident that he had at Pansy's cafe.

"Oh yes it is. And to be honest, from what I heard, it was mostly your fault. You shouldn't have had your back turned to Hermione, then you most probably wouldn't have fallen, therefore prevent yourself from being smothered by the cake Pansy was holding. What was the flavour, by the way?" Narcissa asked sniggering.

"How am I supposed to know?! I was too busy cleaning it off my face to take note of the flavour of it." Draco exclaimed.

"Alright, calm down. I was only joking around with you." Narcissa said.

Draco hmphed in frustration and noticed that Blaise was very quiet. Probably doesn't want me to hex him to oblivion, Draco thought. Wait a second. Draco tried to recollect the accident. When he had turned to face Her-Granger, he had seen a glimpse of raven hair. No. "Blaise. You. Did. Not. Just. Do that." Draco said, through gritted teeth.

Blaise looked up, scared. "Draco, I swear, man, it was unintentional." Blaise said, backing away as Draco stepped towards him.

"Oh, unintentional, was it?" how's this for unintentional?" Draco pointed his wand at Blaise, but before he could hex him, he heard the doorbell ring. He cursed under his breath. He almost had him and then, someone had to be at that blasted door.

"I'll get it!" Blaise said, relieved to have escaped Draco's wrath. He opened the door and saw that it was Hermione. He smiled at her and welcomed her inside.

"Blaise, I am so gonna k- hi." Draco stopped his cursing, and smiled, but then turned it into his infamous smirk. "What are you doing here, Granger?"

"I'm here to invite you to Ginny's and Harry's wedding, which is tomorrow." Hermione handed Draco the invite as well as Blaise. Hermione was curious to know why Draco was close to murdering his best friend. "Is there a reason why you want to murder you friend?" she asked smirking.

"He was the one who got me smothered in cake. He was the one at that door in the cafe." Draco said, then noticed that Hermione was giggling. No! It couldn't be! Did she know already? Why didn't she tell him? "You knew about this?" he asked. Her laughter was answer enough. He glared murderously at her "It's not funny. What if that happened to you? You wouldn't be laughing then, would you?" Draco accused.

"Actually, I would be. Lighten up, Malfoy." Hermione remarked. Draco rolled his eyes at her.

"Whatever, Granger." Draco said ignorant. This time, it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.

"Anyways, I should get going. There's a lot to do at the Burrow. Bye." Hermione said, and made her way to the door.

Blaise waved goodbye and closed the door behind him. "Didn't think you'd get away with it, did you Zabini?" Draco smirked.

"Draco, that's enough. Leave Blaise alone. Who was at the door?" Narcissa came from the living.

"Oh, it was Granger. She was handing out the invites to Weaslette and Potter's wedding tomorrow." Draco explained.

"Oh, how exciting! I need to choose my dress!" with that Narcissa ascended the stairs.

Blaise opened his invite and saw that he was going to be Harry's grooms mate. "Dude, I'm going to be one of Harry's grooms mates, with Theo and Weasley and Longbottom. What does it say in yours?" Draco opened the envelope:

_You are invited to Ginevra Molly Weasley and Harry James Potter's wedding, tomorrow morning, at 10:30am._

_There was another note:_

_Congratulations, you are one of Harry James Potter's grooms mate._

_Please note that the bridesmaids and grooms mates have been personally chosen by Ginevra Molly Weasley._

Draco would have been surprised of being chosen as Potter's grooms mate, but now, not so much. Mostly because he and the Weaslette, Potter and Weasley, have learnt to forget the past and act civil towards each other. They have even become good friends, mostly the Weaslette and the twins. Now, that he had gotten know them, he had grown very fond of Ginny and the twins. He chuckled at the last sentence written on the second note, about Ginny picking the bridesmaids and grooms mates personally. Potter must have let her take the lead, not wanting to take part in this whatsoever.

Well, he better get his suit ready. The suit that Weas- oh, alright, Ginny picked out herself. He had to admit though; she had quite good taste in clothes. Nothing like Weasley. He then ascended upstairs and had a shower, thinking about the sweet jasmine scent he had smelled downstairs.

"Ginny...would you care to explain how you became friends with Pansy, Theo, Blaise and Malfoy? Because I'm quite confused as to why you had invited them to the wedding." Hermione questioned.

"Well, this is kind of a long story." Ginny said.

"Oh, I don't mind. Go on." Hermione glared at her.

"Uh...alright. Well, I became with Theo and Blaise first because they both play with me for The Holyhead Harpies. He then introduced me to Pansy, who I already knew, and I guess we started off from there. Pansy would come to watch her boyfriend often, so I kinda got used to her then. But what really did the trick, was when she pranked Fred and George with one of their own creations. I had told her about them continuously tricking me and so Pansy decided it was time for them to have a taste of their own medicine. They deserved it, really. From that day on, I figured she wasn't that bad after all." Ginny grinned. "Theo and Blaise used to train with me, so we got used to each other, and enjoyed each other's presence; they are pretty funny and cool, once you get to know them, that is. And with the case of Draco. He and I became friends when I used to work in Fred and George's joke shop. They needed workers really badly, so they put up a notice saying they would accept anyone. That's when Draco answered it. Fred and George were very surprised but they were so desperate, they let him in." Ginny paused. "I would see him every day, when I would help my brothers out. He would get us so many customers, which my idiotic brothers were very pleased about, seeing that they were receiving a lot of money. Then, one day, Fred and George said that they were going to give me a special makeover, as a present for helping them out in the shop, but knowing the twins, I shouldn't have let them. They did such a good job you know, with the makeover. They gave me an extremely white face, dyed my hair bright blue, and painted red lipstick around my mouth, like the kind of make up a clown would wear." Ginny said, then recalled Hermione's story of being turned into a clown. "Now, I know where Draco got that spell from. The one that turned you into a clown. He got it from Fred and George." Ginny laughed, and then quickly went back to her story, after receiving a rather dirty glare from Hermione. "Anyways, it wasn't like Draco didn't laugh at me as well, he did, but he told me that he could help me get revenge on the twins, and so I agreed. We put traps around the shop and then waited for them to enter. When they did, by the end of it, they were covered in multicoloured paint and feathers. Oh, it was a sight. Fred and George didn't even seem to mind that we had wrecked the whole joke shop just to prank them. In fact, they said that they were proud of us, for the prank we pulled on them. Draco and I became good friends from there, even though he still calls me Weaslette." Ginny finished.

To say Hermione was surprised was an understatement. She was beyond astonished, she couldn't believe Malfoy had taken up a job at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes; he hadn't even dared touch any of their products before. And now, she hears that he befriended them was really weird. But she guessed that he may have changed now, after all, he had apologised to her this morning. This was still quite overwhelming, it was a lot to process. She really need some rest after this very bizarre but fun day.

She got into her pyjamas and slipped into bed. Within minutes, she was fast asleep.

Draco, can I ask you a question?" Blaise inquired.

"What?" Draco said.

"And be honest. Seriously." Blaise said.

"Yeah, yeah. Fire away." Draco gave him the cue.

"Do you like Granger?" Blaise asked. Not this again, Draco thought. Honestly, why in the world would he like Granger?

'Stop lying to yourself, Draco. Just admit it, you like her." The voice inside his head echoed again.

'I have nothing to admit to. I do not like Granger.' Draco countered.

"No." Draco said.

"And you're being completely honest?" Blaise raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Of course I am being completely honest." Draco replied. Blaise narrowed his eyes at Draco, wondering if he was being honest. Of course he wasn't, Blaise thought to himself. He was so stubborn! Why can't he just admit that he like Hermione? Blaise sighed in frustration and nodded, before retiring to his bedroom for some sleep.

Draco decided to do the same and drifted away into deep sleep.


	13. We Now Pronounce You Man And Wife

Hermione pulled down her bridesmaid dress. It was purple because Ginny believed it to be her 'colour'. She shook her head and pulled up the zip at the back.

She walked towards the full body mirror and looked at herself. She had to admit, purple did look good on her. She smiled and twirled around, causing the dress to spiral. She liked doing that, as girly as it sounded.

"Hermione, Ginny needs you-wow." Harry said before he could stop himself. Hermione turned around and blushed. "You look amazing." Harry complimented.

"Thank you." Hermione said, still flushed.

"You're welcome, now come on. Ginny will go ballistic if you don't get there right now." Harry dragged her to the room where Ginny was pacing back and forth, thinking very hardly. She looked up to see who had arrived and was relieved to see Hermione.

"Thank god, you're here. My dress had ripped and the store said that they could replace it, and I don't know how to fix it. Hermione please, tell me you know a spell to fix this problem." Ginny pleaded desperately.

"Okay, okay. First, calm down, Gin." Hermione instructed. Ginny breathed in and out. Hermione continued. "Okay, I think I might have just the thing to fix the problem without using magic. My mum taught it to me." Hermione smiled and started working away with Ginny's dress.

"Hermione! You're a genius! Thank you so much!" Ginny clasped Hermione into a tight embrace, causing her to almost fall over.

"It's fine, Gin. I was happy to help." Hermione assured.

"Ginny, quick. You need to walk down the aisle in less than 5 minutes." Molly Weasley called her daughter, panicking.

"Okay, mum. I'm ready." Ginny took her mother's offered hand and walked downstairs, and out of the house.

Everybody had their eyes on her, making her slightly intimidated, but she continued walking towards her dad, who was waiting for her so he could lead her to the platform.

She circled her arm around her father's elbow. Then, the music started playing. Ginny and Arthur walked slowly towards Harry, who was straightening his tie, making sure he looked good.

Hermione went to the platform, joining pansy and Luna, waiting for Ginny to step onto the platform too.

Harry offered his hand to Ginny so that she could get onto the platform, which she took thankfully. They held each other's hands and waited for Arthur Weasley to read out the wedding vows.

"May we have the rings, please?" Arthur said. Hermione held out the opened box to Ginny, while Ron held out the other to Harry. The couple exchanged rings, resulting in a roar of applause.

The wedding vows were read out, which Ginny and Harry both promised to stand by. The bridesmaids and the grooms mates all smiled, even Draco Malfoy, to Hermione's surprise, but she put that thought aside. That was not important right now, what was important was the wedding.

"We now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may now kiss the bride." Arthur gestured. Harry and Ginny obliged happily, as another roar of applause and cheering broke out.

"Thank you all for coming. Please enjoy the rest of the morning." Molly allowed everyone seated to scatter, some walking towards others to talk, some going towards the cake, and some turning to leave, having had work to go to.

Slow dance songs commenced as Harry lead Ginny to the centre of the tent. They started to dance in each other's embrace. Others started to join in, too.

Hermione stood on the sidelines, upset that Jake couldn't make it to the wedding.

"Hey, do you want to dance, 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"Sure." Hermione smiled and was lead to the centre, where she slow danced with Ron.

Jake straightened his jacket out and quickly departed his house. He was happy that his father had finally allowed him to go to Ginny Weasley's and Harry potter's wedding.

He was sad when he had to tell his girlfriend that he couldn't make it because she really wanted him to be with her, but he disappointed her. He couldn't wait to surprise her.

There was a tap on Hermione's shoulder. She turned her head and met the steely grey eyes that belonged to Draco Malfoy. Ugh! Why did he have that effect on her? She felt so weak kneed with just looking into those intense orbs of his and she hated it! If it hadn't been for Ron, she would have surely fallen. She mentally slapped herself and waited for Draco to speak.

"May I have this dance, Granger?" Draco asked, offering his hand to her.

Hermione looked at Ron, who nodded, handing her to Draco. "Sure why not?" she said and took his hand.

They began dancing to the slow song in a comfortable silence, which Hermione preferred a lot, until Draco had to speak up and ruin it. "You look beautiful, Hermione." He said. Hermione made eye contact with him and saw that his words were genuine and sincere. She blushed and noticed that he had used her first name. Usually, he would just go with the last-name basis.

"Thank you." Hermione said.

"You know, I never seem to see that boyfriend of yours around here anywhere. What, did he finally realise that you were out of his league?" Draco joked, as well as complimenting her. She rolled her eyes at his remark and then blushed when she properly registered what he had said.

"He couldn't make it. He wasn't allowed to leave his workplace." Hermione answered. Draco just nodded and then, smirked. "What? Why are you smirking, Malfoy?" Hermione asked irritated.

"Are you sure he didn't just say that to maybe get away from you?" Draco asked.

Hermione slapped his arm playfully. "Shut up, Malfoy." She said. "Honestly, what is your problem?"

"Nothing. I was just asking. Sheesh." Draco said surrendering before the cat stuck her claws in. Hermione rolled her eyes, then returned to their comfortable silence.

Draco noticed then, that a guy behind Hermione was staring at her, smirking at what he was seeing. Draco stopped, confusing Hermione. He walked around behind her and knew what the guy had been looking at. Hermione's dress was unzipped, revealing her bare back. He went back to face her. "Your zip is unzipped." He said. Hermione's eyes widened and frantically reached for it, pulling it up, until half way through, it became stuck. She tried a lot to force it up, but it would not budge. Draco noticed her struggle and decided to help her out. He went behind her again and helped her pulled the zip up entirely, and then retired back to the front.

Hermione felt a tingle go up her body, feeling Draco slightly touch her bare skin.

Draco looked to the guy and pointed to him and then sliced his throat with his index finger, threatening him to stay away from her. The guy immediately turned away, scared by Draco's threat. Draco smirked triumphantly. He turned to looked at Hermione, who was now looking at him suspiciously.

"What did you just do?" she asked. She turned around and saw a guy snapping his neck towards his date, afraid to even look at her.

"Nothing." Draco said quickly. She bored her eyes into his, until he finally spat it out. "Alright. That guy was looking at your back when you dress was unzipped. So, I kinda told him that I would uh kill him if he looked at you again." He put his head down, unable to look into Hermione's eyes.

"Oh." Was all she could say. They returned to their dancing. "Thank you." She smiled.

"You're welcome." Draco smiled back.

That was when Hermione noticed her boyfriend, Jake, turning to leave. He seemed to be upset about something. She should see if everything was alright. "I'll be right back." Hermione said, and headed out of the tent to stop her boyfriend.

"Jake! Wait!" Hermione called. He stopped and turned, anger showing in his eyes. "Is everything alright?" she frowned.

"What were you doing with that bastard?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Nothing. We were just dancing. Oh, never mind that. You're here. How were you able to make it?" Hermione asked.

"Don't change the subject and don't act like you don't know anything. I saw him feeling you up. What was he doing?" he demanded, rather than asked.

"No, Jake, he was just helping me with my dress. The zip was stuck so he helped me out, that's all." Hermione explained.

"And I'm supposed to believe that? Forget it. Be honest with me Hermione, do you like Malfoy?" he asked hurt visible in his eyes.

"No! I don't! He's just a friend, Jake. Nothing else." Hermione assured.

"You know what? If you're not going to be honest with me, then...we're done." With that, he left her, tears escaping.

Draco felt like punching that guy. How could he do that Hermione!? That good for nothing bastard! He should go and check if she's alright. He walked out of the tent and saw that she was nowhere to be seen. He went back inside but couldn't find her there either. Maybe he should tell the Weaslette about this, she is Granger's best friend after all.

"I think you should go and check on Granger. I just saw that Cake guy break up with Hermione. That fucking bastard." He added that under his breath, but Ginny still heard it.

"Why are you so worried about her? I mean, yeah, you're friends, but still." Ginny cocked up her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth tugging to curl up into a knowing smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't care. I just thought you would wanna know, since she's your best friends and all." Draco reasoned.

"Mmm-hmmm." Ginny said, knowing all too well they were lies. "Maybe she's inside. I'll go check." With that, Ginny left the wedding tent and entered the Weasley household.

She ascended upstairs, checking each bedroom for any sign of Hermione, when she heard a faint cry coming from her bedroom. She went inside quickly.

Hermione was devastated. She really liked Jake, and now, he just ended their relationship because he believed that something was going on between her and Draco. Ugh! This was his entire fault! He should have just left her zip as it was. She could have asked Ginny to pull the zip.

Draco felt something fall down his cheek. He touched it and found a tear.

"Draco, are you alright?" pansy asked, coming towards him. He nodded. "Then, why are you crying?" she asked confused.

"I don't know. I just...don't know." Draco ran his fingers through his hair frustrated. "What's happening to me, Pans." Draco asked desperately. Pansy gave him a confused expression, so Draco explained what had happened with him and Hermione the last week.

"Draco, it's apparent that you have some connection with Hermione, but I don't understand what's causing it, because I've never heard anything like this." Pansy frowned.

Draco pondered on the ways in which a connection with another person could be created, and then suddenly remembered something very important. He had given her his blood! Could that be the cause of this connection? "Pansy, is it possible that the sharing of blood could create a form of connection between wizards?" Draco asked.

Pansy pondered on that. "I guess, it could be. But I don't think it's ever been done, at least as far as I know. Why?" Pansy asked.

"Because I donated my blood to Granger, when she was involved in a car accident. I had found her and took her to the hospital. She was losing a lot of blood, so the doctors tried to find more, but couldn't. They said that her blood type was AB+, which was the same as mine, so I offered. From that day on, I have been having these visions of her." Draco explained.

"This could be a possible cause for your connection. The question is, has Hermione been having these kinds of visions of you?" Pansy asked.

"I don't know, Pans. But what I do know is that I need to teach that bastard a lesson for breaking Hermione's heart." He said, punching his fist into his hand.

"Whoa there, Mr Strong Guy, no need to go violent. First, just threaten him, and then, if he doesn't listen, you can punch him." Pansy said smirking. What? She was a Slytherin after all.

"Great idea, Pans. I'll see you later." Draco said and walked out of the boundaries of the Burrow to apparate to Diagon Alley.


	14. You Deserve Better'

"Hermione, why are you crying? What happened?" Ginny asked, settling down next to her best friend.

"Jake ended our relationship." Hermione said between sobs. Ginny opened her arms, which Hermione fell into immediately, crying her heart out.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"He thought me and Draco had an affair." Hermione said.

"He doesn't deserve you, Hermione. If he thought that something was going on between you and Draco, then he doesn't know you very well. Look, you need to forget about it. Don't blame yourself for what happened between the two of you." Ginny told her.

"But it was my fault! If I hadn't let him zip my dress up, Jake wouldn't have broken up with me. He wouldn't have misunderstood." Hermione reasoned.

"No, it wasn't your fault, Hermione. Draco was only helping you. And if you told that to Jake and he said that it looked otherwise, then he doesn't deserve a woman like you. Trust is needed in a strong relationship, but Jake did the opposite. You deserve better, 'Mione." Ginny insisted.

"But, Gin...I really liked him. How can I just forget the time we spent together?" Hermione said between sobs.

"Look, Hermione, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but, please, just think about it. Don't waste your tears on a jerk like him." Ginny persisted, stroking Hermione's hair one more time. She then left her alone for a while.

This was his fault. Because of him, that guy broke up with Hermione, and now, she was crying so much over this heartbreak. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Again, she was hurting because of him, and he hated that. He had been trying so hard to make her happy, and at times, he even did, but he had hurt her more than made her happy.

He had to fix this. As much as he hated the fact that Hermione would even go out with a lowly serving boy like that bastard, whatever his name was, but he knew that he made her happy. He had just snatched her happiness. Why couldn't he do anything right when it came to Hermione?!

He had made the decision. He was going to teach Cake a lesson, to talk some sense to him. He had made a big mistake in breaking up with Hermione, and he will just know how big.

As soon as he was at the door of the cafe Cake worked in, he entered inside.

Hermione wiped her tears and knew that Ginny was right. She shouldn't waste her tears on a guy like Jake. He hadn't even trusted her.

She decided to leave the comfort of the bedroom and went outside to interact with the guys.

"You! How dare you hurt Her-Granger?" Draco shouted, grabbing Jake by his collar.

"I saw what happened in there. I am not stupid." Jake spat back.

"There was nothing going on! I was just helping her because a guy was looking at her like some fresh meat!" Draco bellowed.

"Well, it sure didn't look like it." Jake remarked.

"Look, I and she are just friends, nothing more. Don't you know how much she likes you? Or does your thick skull prevent you from seeing that?" Draco said. "If you don't see that, then you in no way deserve a woman like Hermione. She is beautiful, intelligent, and brave and she deserves much better than you." Draco pushed Jake hardly and exited the cafe, the anger still not cooling.

Hermione blushed. Draco Malfoy had just called her beautiful, intelligent and brave. She was in disbelief that Draco had just went to Jake and told him he didn't deserve her. He had defended her. She had no words. That was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said about her.

"'Mione, why have you gone all red?" Ron asked worried.

"Um...I uh I'm feeling really hot in here. I'm just uh gonna step outside for a few minutes to cool down." Hermione informed him and stepped outside, breathing in the fresh summer breeze, still thinking about what Draco Malfoy had said about her. She could help but smile.

She checked her watch and saw that it was 12:30pm. She had told Kingsley that she would arrive at work after noon and she was going to do just that. She changed her clothes and apparated outside the Ministry building. She stepped inside and took the lift to get to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

She hoped that Draco hadn't arrived yet because she was definitely going to start blushing furiously. She opened the door and went inside. Closing the door behind her, she turned around and met the eyes of Draco Malfoy. She noticed him smirk then and knew immediately that she was blushing.

"Have you finally noticed my chiselled looks, Granger?" Draco joked.

"Get over yourself, Malfoy." Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's just hot in here, that's all." She lied.

"The air conditioning is on, Granger. I know you're lying through your teeth. Do you really expect me to believe that?" Draco said with that damn smirk plastered on his face.

"Whatever, Malfoy." She sat down on her chair and started working away, until Draco decided to speak up.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" he asked. She noticed that he had said her first name. Usually, he would go by last name basis. She looked up.

"Of course I am. Why are you asking me that question?" she asked confused.

"I saw what happened between...you and..." he trailed off, not sure if he should continue. He noticed a small tear trail down her rosy cheeks and frowned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No, it's okay..." she trailed off. Draco nodded and went back to his paperwork. She returned to her own work, too.

They spent the rest of the day in an uncomfortable silence, but none chose to interrupt it, though each would steal a glance of each other once in a while.

Hermione placed her belongings in her bag and got ready to leave. Draco was doing the same with himself. They looked at each other for a moment and then looked away. They both headed for the door at the same time, but stopped. Draco allowed Hermione to go through first, being the gentleman, then stepped out of the office himself, closing and locking the door behind him securely.

The two of them walked side by side in an awkward silence out of the building.

They were about to part ways, when Hermione stopped Draco.

"Draco, wait." She called. He stopped and turned around, waiting for her to speak. She walked towards him and reached for his cheek. She touched it with her hand and stood on her tip toes, and kissed him softly on his pale cheek. She stepped back and smiled at him. "Thank you. For defending me, twice. I know you went to Jake." Hermione said, then had a confused expression on her face. How did she know that? She hadn't been anywhere near him when he went to Jake. This could not be possible. She didn't understand what was happening.

"He needed to know." Draco simply said. "You deserve much better than that jerk, Hermione. He didn't believe you when you were being completely honest with him.- And I meant what I said." He said, his eyes boring into hers, letting her know he was speaking the truth.

"Thank you, Draco." Hermione blushed. "Um...bye." she waved and left.

Draco touched his cheek and smiled. She had just kissed him. He plastered a goofy grin on his face and headed home.


	15. Mistake

"Why are you smiling so goofy about?" Blaise asked when Draco entered the Malfoy household.

"Nothing..." Draco said, averting his eyes in a different direction.

"It doesn't look like nothing. And why the hell are you holding your cheek?" he asked suspicious.

"No reason." Draco said quickly and started to speed walk to his bedroom, but was stopped by Blaise.

"Out of my way, Zabini." Draco said, and then cursed. Now he'll know that he was lying. Blaise forcefully removed Draco's hand away from his cheek and saw the reason to his goofy smile. He smirked.

"Would you care to explain as to why you have a lipstick mark on your cheek?" Blaise questioned.

"Oh! Do I? I hadn't noticed! How did I get that?" Draco said playing dumb, which was completely out of character. Blaise eyed him suspiciously again, not breaking eye contact until Draco confessed.

"Alright, fine! Hermione kissed me on the cheek! Are you happy now?" Draco blurted.

"Why?"

"As a thank you."

"And what may I ask was the Thank you for?"

"I defended her. That lowly serving boy, Cake-"

"You mean Jake."

"Same thing. Anyways, so as I was saying, Cake had broken his relationship with Granger, because he thought that something was going on between me and her. She was heartbroken, I had seen it and that was when I thought that he needs to be taught a lesson. So, I went to the cafe he worked in and told him that he didn't deserve Granger. Then, I shoved him and left. But, seriously, you should have seen the look on his face." Draco chuckled. "Priceless."

"So, there isn't anything going on between the two of you?" Blaise asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No. We are just friends." Draco said simply.

"Are you sure about that? Does a friend kiss another friend on the cheek, so intimate that it would leave a mark?"

"It was just a Thank You. That's all. Honestly, when are you gonna give up on that idea?"

"Never. Until you finally admit that you do in fact like Hermione." Blaise smiled. Draco sighed and shook his head in disapproval.

An owl tapped on the window with its foot impatiently, having waited for what felt like an eternity.

Hermione came out of the bathroom and heard the tapping. She went to the window and slid it open, allowing the owl entrance.

"Sorry." She apologised and detached the note off its foot, after offering it a treat.

She unfolded it and read:

Can we talk?  
Meet me at 8:30, at my apartment.

Jake.

Hermione knew what this was about. She put on her coat and headed for the door when she was stopped.

"Where are you going, 'Mione?" Ginny asked.

"Jake wants to meet me. I'll be back soon."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Ginny said uneasily.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." With that she left.

"Hermione, wait!" Ginny called, but it was too late. She needed to find her. Somehow, she just knew something wrong was going to happen. She rushed outside, putting on her coat, and apparated.

Hermione rang the bell and waited for Jake to open the door.

"Hermione, you came." Jake smiled and let her in. She entered the apartment.

"Please, sit down." Hermione obliged, but sat across from Jake, still angry with him.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. What I did was wrong. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. I just...I didn't like seeing you with another guy, especially that git-"

"His name is Draco." Hermione interrupted.

"Right. I just want you to know that I regret what I did, I was just so angry with him and I took it out on you. I know now that he was only trying to help you. I am truly sorry, Hermione. Can you forgive me?" Jake asked hopeful.

"I forgive you, Jake." Hermione smiled. He stood up and was about to hug her when she stopped him. "But we can't be together anymore. I had told you the truth then, but you didn't believe me, and when Draco arrived at your workplace and told you that nothing was going on between the two of us and told you that you didn't deserve me, and then you understood." Hermione said.

"How-how did you know that?" Jake asked.

"I had seen it with my own eyes." Hermione said, still confused to how she had been able to see Draco when he was there and she was at the wedding. She was going to look into that some other time.

"I didn't see you there..." Jake murmured.

"Look, we can still be friends, if you're willing to. What do you say, Jake?" Hermione held out her hand.

"Wait a minute. Do you not want to be with me because of that bastard?!" the look of realisation hit him. "Do you like him?"

"No! No. We are just friends." Hermione replied.

"Well that smile when you were dancing with that dick says otherwise. What the hell do you see in him?" Jake questioned, anger rising.

"Jake, we are friends! Nothing else!" Hermione cried.

Jake stood up straight. Hermione did so, too. He walked towards her, resulting in her to retreat, a scared expression on her face.

"Jake, stop."

Jake pushed her hardly against the wall, a strong grip on her shoulders. Hermione struggled to loosen his hold. "Jake! Let me go!" Hermione cried.

"Do you think I'm going to let you go that easily? You're the one who betrayed me! You bitch! You are going to regret this!" Jake threatened.

"Don't you know how much I love you?!" Jake started to trace forceful kisses down Hermione's neck. He trailed his finger down Hermione's body, eyes showing nothing but lust. He then wrapped his arms around her waist abruptly, causing Hermione to gasp. His hands trailed back up her shoulders, and slowly brought down her sleeves, moving his lips down onto her bare skin on her shoulders.

"Jake! Let me go! What are you doing?!" Hermione placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back with all the strength she could muster. She rushed towards the door and opened it, when Jake pushed it back, closing it.

"Sorry, but you won't be going anywhere today." Jake smirked menacingly.

He reached for her and pulled her with him to another room for privacy.

Hermione tried to pry his hands off of her, but failed. He then hardly bit her neck, making her scream.

"Hermione!" Draco abruptly stood up from his seat.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Blaise asked.

"Hermione's in trouble. We need to go and find her!" Draco and Blaise apparated to Diagon Alley.

"Do you know where she is?" Blaise asked.

"I think it's this way. Come on." Draco said, and ran towards the direction.

Hermione couldn't give up just yet. She needed to find her wand. She had her one hand free, so she began to search for it. It was difficult to find. She couldn't feel it inside her pockets. She panicked. How was she going to escape?

Then, she remembered that she had been practicing wandless magic for about a year now, ever since she found that book, aiding her to do simple spells without her wand. But could this work with a bigger spell? She didn't know, but she had to attempt it. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell. "Expelliarmus." She opened her eyes as she heard a thud.

Jake had gotten pushed hardly against the wall. He seemed to be unconscious. This was her chance. She hurriedly bolted for the door and escaped. She ran down the stairs and out of the building, not stopping once.

Jake finally awoke and cursed. He stood up and quickly made his way out of the door and out of the building. He was not going to let Hermione get away from his grasp.

Hermione kept running. She looked back to see any sign of Jake, but he wasn't behind, so she turned her attention back to the front. However, she hadn't noticed what was on the ground and tripped over. She cried in pain.

He knew that voice. Hermione. Jake hurriedly rushed towards the direction he had heard the scream.

"That was Hermione! She's close by! Quick!" Draco ran, not waiting for Blaise to follow after. He needed to find her before Jake did.

Hermione slowly got up, wincing in pain. She tried to run as fast as possible, but cried again. The pain on her foot was preventing her to run fast.

There she was. Jake smirked. She was not going to get away from his grasp now. He rushed up towards her.

Hermione looked behind her, to check for any sign of Jake. Oh no! He was running towards her now! She quickly ran wherever her feet would take her.

"I will get you, Hermione! You can't go anywhere now." He laughed mirthlessly.

Hermione tried to run even faster, when she suddenly stumbled into a solid figure. She fell to the ground, but she took the figure with her. She noticed that she had her eyes closed and opened them. She met silver eyes and was relieved. "Draco."

"Hermione." Draco said. He got up from the ground and helped her up, too.

Hermione embraced him tightly, happy to have found him. She let go and smiled.

"Are you alright?" he asked worried, then noticed the bite mark on her neck and fingerprints on her arms. He reached for the bite mark and touched it, causing her to flinch. "sorry." Draco said, quickly taking his hand back.

Jake stopped in his tracks, shock plastered on his face. "Shit!" he cried by accident. Big mistake.

Draco heard the curse and looked up. It was Jake. He clenched his teeth and tightened his fists. He walked towards the now retreating Jake.

"You fucking bastard! You dare hurt her?!" Draco bellowed. He started to sprint as Jake scurried away in the other direction.

Jake ran as fast as his feet could take him, but he was no match for Draco's long legs, which were twice as fast. Draco grabbed him by the collar, making Jake face him. His fist was ready to collide with Jake's face, and it had done just that.

"How." Draco punched.

"Dare." He punched again.

"You." Again.

"Touch." And again.

"Her!" and one more time, making sure that it was brutal.

Jake's face now looked pretty beaten up. Draco pulled back his fist again; ready to punch him just one more time. He almost did, had Jake not gotten a hold of his fist.

"I think it's my turn. Shall I?" Jake smirked, thought his face had been bruised badly. He grabbed Draco by the collar and started to punch him. Again. And again. And again.

Draco finally managed to get a hold of Jake's fist and pushed him back.

The two started to rush towards each other, but Hermione stopped them.

"Draco! Stop! Please!" Hermione shouted. Draco turned to face Hermione. He spotted tears in her eyes. His eyes softened and he walked towards her.

'If I don't get away now, he's gonna kill me. No. I have to get away.' He thought. He turned to the other direction and ran. Unfortunately for him, someone grabbed him from behind.

"Think you could get away so easily? Think again." A voice said. He turned and saw that it was Ginny. His eyes widened.

"What? Surprised to see me?" Ginny smirked and dragged him along towards the trio.

"Draco, you're hurt." Hermione frowned, seeing the black bruises on his face. This was her fault, she thought.

"Hermione, it's not your fault. I'll be alright. With a simple healing spell, these bruises will be near to gone. Don't worry." He assured her, cupping her face with his hands.

He wiped the tears on her cheek with his thumb. Hermione abruptly pulled her into a tight embrace. Draco hugged back and stroked her hair gently.

"It's alright."

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ginny asked coming towards them with Jake with her.

Hermione nodded and smiled at her best friend.

"Don't worry. This dick is not going anywhere. He's going straight to Azkaban for rape." Ginny said, spotting the bite mark on the nape of Hermione's neck. "I had called Harry, and he should be here any minute now."

"Thank you, Ginny." Hermione said.

"Where is he?" a voice rang in. Harry had arrived. He stopped to get his breath back, bending down and inhaling the fresh night air. "One second."

"I thought you Aurors were meant to be well built. Honestly, Harry. You are so unhealthy." Ginny said, shaking her head. Hermione chuckled at the comment.

Harry then walked up to Jake and punched him.

"Damn right deserves it!" he saw that everyone was looking at him.

"What? He hurt my best friend. I wasn't going to let him get away without beating him at least once." He reasoned. Ginny rolled her eyes and handed Jake over to Harry so that he could take him to Azkaban.

Harry apparated with him, leaving the other four by themselves.

"We should get you to the Burrow. Mum can heal you there. Let's go." Ginny said to Hermione. Hermione nodded and started to walk, but winced in pain. Her foot was throbbing. Ginny took Hermione's arm and put it around her shoulder. She and Hermione walked again, but Hermione was still unable to walk.

"Here. Let me help." Draco said, and walked towards Hermione. He placed his left arm under her knees and his other supporting her back. He lifted her up. Hermione circled her arms around Draco's neck for support.

Ginny and Blaise shared a glance with each other and grinned.

Grey and chocolate never broke contact with each other as Draco apparated outside the Burrow's boundaries. They continued to The Burrow.

Ginny and Blaise followed behind, not waiting to interrupt this beautiful moment. They just watched, the grins never residing their faces.

"Alright, everyone. Dig in." Molly Weasley told her big family. They all obliged happily and gobbled down the food like pigs, mostly the men. Molly shook her head at how bad they were with table manners. She then spotted figured walking towards the house.

"Hermione?" she said. She quickly headed for the door and opened it.

"Hermione what happened?" she asked worried.

"Mum, at least let us inside." Ginny said. Molly allowed them entrance. Draco walked to the living room and placed Hermione down on the sofa.

"What happened?"

"Hermione, how did you get hurt?"

"Who did this to you?"

"Whoever it was, we'll beat him to a pulp."

"What's Malfoy doing here?"

They all threw question upon question at her.

"Alright! Stop! Can't you see Hermione needs rest right now? She can't answer any of your questions. So back off, dunderheads." Ginny scolded. Fleur, Angelina, Alicia laughed at the comment, believing it to be quite true.

"Ginny, you do not call your brothers dunderheads." Molly scolded. "Maybe you should go upstairs to sleep, Hermione." molly suggested smiling.

Hermione nodded. She got up but cried in pain. She almost fell, but Draco had at the last moment pulled her into his arms and carried her upstairs.

"Where's your bedroom?" Draco asked Hermione. She pointed to the right. Draco took her to the room and set her down on the bed. He then took out his wand, and muttered a healing spell on her foot. The foot stopped throbbing. Next, he healed her arms and the bite mark on her neck. The marks started to fade until they vanished.

He put his wand back in his pocket. "Well, uh, I'll uh get going now. Mother's probably wondering where I am. I don't want her to get worried. I'll uh see you tomorrow." He turned to leave, but Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Don't go." She said. Draco smiled and kissed her on the forehead. She closed her eyes.

"I need to, but I will see you tomorrow. Okay?" Draco said. Hermione nodded and pulled him down so that she could kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you, again." Hermione smiled. Draco nodded and turned to leave.

He opened the door and noticed that the Weasley's had toppled over each other.

'Were they eavesdropping?' they thought at the same time and gasped.

They looked at each other.

'Did he just...'

'Did she just...' they thought in unison again.

'Can you hear my thoughts?' Hermione asked him.

'yes." Draco replied back in his head.

'But...how...' Hermione thought confusion washing over her.

'I think I might know, but I'll tell you tomorrow. You need to rest right now. Goodnight.' Draco said,

'Goodnight, Draco.' She said, still confused.

Draco walked over the Weasley clan and exited the household.

'Weasleys.' He thought to himself.

'I heard that, Malfoy.' He heard her say.

Hermione eyed the Weasleys as they straightened themselves. They didn't make eye contact with her and just parted ways, each whistling.

'Weasleys.' Hermione chuckled.

'I heard that, but then again, I already know that.' She heard him say. She chuckled again.


	16. High In The Clouds

Hermione awoke from her slumber when she heard someone calling her.

"Hermione! Wake up! You have to get ready for your trip!" Ginny called.

Hermione slowly rolled out of bed and got into the shower. She recollected yesterday and smiled. Draco had saved her from Jake. If he hadn't arrived on time, then she could've have been captured by Jake again.

Pushing the horrid thought out of her mind, she got dressed. She put on a checked shirt and blue jeans. She grabbed her luggage and dragged it downstairs, where Harry and Ron were waiting for her.

"Come on, dear, quickly have your breakfast, then you can go ahead for your mission." Molly ushered Hermione to the table and sat her down. She pushed an already filled plate towards Hermione, urging her to eat. Hermione obeyed.

"Goodbye Molly, Ginny." Hermione hugged the two women. She picked up her suitcase by the handle and carried it outside. The Golden Trio said goodbye once more before they set off for the doors of the Ministry.

The other Aurors had already arrived and were waiting for the Golden Trio, so they could all go to the airport.

"Did you hear? Hermione Granger was raped by Jake Clorset?" an Auror told another.

"Yeah, apparently she refused to get back together with him and he wouldn't accept that, so he had his revenge." The other said.

"I heard that the reason behind her refusal was Draco Malfoy." One whispered.

"I think that they are secretly going out with each other." The fourth one whispered.

"I think that you should shut up before I pummel you, Grindylaw." Draco threatened, having heard their entire conversation.

"Um...the name is actually Grinden." He corrected.

"Does it look like I care, Grindylaw?" Grinden retreated cowardly to his friends.

Just then, the trio arrived. Draco's eyes immediately landed on Hermione.

Hermione felt like she was being watched and looked towards the crowd of Aurors. Chocolate met grey. She blushed and looked away.

Draco smirked. He loved making her blush. He then remembered that she wanted to know about the telepathic connection they shared.

'Do you still want to know about how you can read my thoughts?' he sent the message to her, causing her to get startled.

Hermione was just talking to an Auror when she heard Draco's voice inside her mind. She jumped slightly.

'Could you not do that? Honestly, scared the life out of me.' She spoke telepathically. She could see the smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes.

'So, how exactly is this connection possible?'

'I can't tell you now, not here. Too many people, someone may suspect something. I'll tell you on the plane.' He informed.

'What do you...-wait. You mean we're going to sitting next to each other on the plane?' she asked.

'Yes. ' Was all he had the chance to say as the Minister had started to pair the Aurors.

Hermione paid attention to the minister, who was going over the rules about not using magic in front of muggles, though that would be very obvious, but you would be surprised to see how many idiots like that roam around in the wizarding world. He then ordered them to get into their pairs as they went to the Transportation Department.

"Each pair, grab onto the portkey, right now." Kingsley instructed. "Good luck to all of you." He said before the Aurors were sucked into thin air, appearing just a few blocks away from Heathrow Airport.

They walked in their pairs, scattering, as they talked amongst themselves.

"So, do you want to tell me now? The others are ahead of us, so no one will overhear us." Hermione asked.

"Well, I believe that it is connected to that accident you had a few months ago. Since I had donated my blood to you, this connection had gotten stronger day by day. I have looked everywhere for any information about connections, but no such luck." He finished.

Hermione remembered seeing a book named Telepathy Temptations. Maybe it could aid them to learn more about this connection. But, how could she retrieve it now? They were all leaving for Australia.

"I saw this book, when I was at Flourish and Blott's. I think it may have some answers to our questions. It was called Telepathy Temptations, but I never actually got around to purchasing it as Ginny was becoming bored, saying that I had enough books already; I mean, you can never have too many books." She added, making Draco chuckle. "Unfortunately, there isn't any way to retrieve the book now, as there is no wizard shops in Australia, as far as I know." She frowned, having read numerous books about which places have a wizarding world, and which don't.

"Unless..." Draco pondered.

"Unless...what?" she asked.

"I could ask Blaise to retrieve that book and then, he would owl it to me." He said.

"Yes, that could work." She smiled.

"We'll have to wait till we get to Sydney, though." He said.

They walked in silence until they finally boarded the plane.

Hermione lifted her suitcase and slid it inside the compartment above her seat. She sat down while Draco did the same.

He lifted the baggage and attempted to slide it smoothly inside the compartment, next to Hermione's, but failed, miserably. The suitcase slipped and fell down on Draco's head. He dropped the suitcase, causing it to hurt his toe. He rubbed his head with one hand and jumped up and down holding his foot with the other.

For Hermione, it was a sight to see.

"Here, let me do it." She got up and lifted his suitcase, sliding it inside the compartment with no difficulty whatsoever. Draco decided to sit down and relax.

When she sat down, she was still giggling.

"It's not that funny, Granger." Draco grumbled.

"Maybe not you, Malfoy, but everyone else thinks so." She smirked. Draco looked around and the other passengers were in fact, sniggering at him.

"Muggles." He muttered under his breath. Hermione just rolled her eyes at the comment.

*Everybody, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to take off.* a voice was heard.

Hermione buckled her seatbelt, while Draco tried to, but failed once again.

"Damn it, stupid seatbelt!" he cursed a bit too loudly. The other passengers started to stare at him.

"I'm guessing this is your first time on a plane." She said.

"Yes." Draco said, still struggling to put his belt on. 'If...this...damn...thing...would...just...argh!'

"Stop!" she halted him. He stopped trying and allowed her to fasten it. She did this effortlessly.

*Everybody, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to take off.* the invisible voice said again.

The passengers awaited as the plane roared to life, slowly gliding forwards. It picked up speed, zooming slightly faster and faster until it finally folded its wheels inside and took off.

Draco closed his eyes, having the strange feeling in his stomach. He opened his eyes to check on Hermione, who seemed to be unaffected by this.

He noticed that a little boy was looking at him strangely. The boy had stuck out his tongue and had his thumbs pointed at the sides of his forehead, with his fingers wiggling. He smirked. 'Two can play this game'. He made his own funny face, his tongue out and his eyes pointing in different directions.

The battle went on until Draco decided to accept defeat, having run out of more funny faces to pull. The boy blew a raspberry at him. Annoyed, he turned his attention away from the boy, noticing that Hermione was looking at him, an amused expression on her face.

He turned to look outside the window and saw only white and blue. It was an amazing view.

He imagined what it would be like to fly above the clouds. He had ridden on his broomstick for a while now and he missed that.

Thinking about his time on his Night Chaser, he drifted off to sleep.


	17. High In The Clouds Part 2

Draco was shaken awoke by Hermione. He groaned, opening one eye.

"What is it, Granger?"

"Don't you want to eat, Malfoy?"

He sat up straight and looked towards the air hostess that was placing a plate full of small containers of food on Hermione's platform. How in the world did she find? He thought.

"The platform is right here. You just need to pull it down." Hermione pointed to the front of Draco. He pulled it down and waited for the hostess to put food on his platform.

The stewardess grabbed another plate of containers of food and placed it on Draco's platform.

"Thank you." He said, and looked at the hostess. He winked at her, making her blush. She then walked away to attend to the other passengers.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his typical behaviour and started to eat her food. Draco did the same, glancing at Hermione once in a while to check what she was doing so that he could follow.

When he opened the first container, though, he immediately felt disgusted.

"What in the world is this? You call this food?" Draco complained to Hermione.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Should I order some fish fillet, with some caviar and crème brulee?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She took a bite out of her chicken.

"Why didn't they give me that then?" he asked confused and annoyed.

"I was being sarcastic, you idiot." Hermione remarked. "Now, eat what you have, cos you won't be getting anything else until we reach Sydney." She ordered him.

Draco was beyond disgusted. He couldn't eat this excuse of a meal. Just then, his stomach grumbled, demanding for food.

"Fine." He gave up and began eating with a disgusted face painted on his face, loathing every bite he took.

The air hostess came back to collect Hermione's and Draco's plate. She looked towards Draco.

"Would you like anything else, sir?" she asked him, batting her eyelashes over exaggeratingly.

"No, thank you." Draco said. The stewardess, disappointed, walked away.

He glanced towards Hermione, who was now wearing ear phones.

"What are you listening to?" he asked, curious.

"Nothing, just music." She replied reluctantly.

"What kind of music?" he inquired.

"Um...it's rock music. You wouldn't be interested. You probably only listen to classical." She remarked.

"no. I listen to all sorts of music genres." He snatched one ear phone and plugged it into his right ear.

Only silence could be heard. He was confused. What kind of music was this?

Then, all of a sudden, an electric guitar blasted loudly in the ear phone. Draco jumped, startled by the sudden sound and banged his head on the ceiling.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing his head. He sat back down and turned to Hermione, frustration showing on his face. "What the hell was that?!"

"The start of another song." Hermione giggled.

"Did it have to be so fricking loud?" he complained.

"No, I just raised the volume to full." She simply replied.

"Are you deaf or something, Granger?"

"No, I just did that to annoy you." She sniggered.

"Not. Funny." He said through gritted teeth. She laughed even harder. He smirked. "So, you think it'd funny, do you?" she continued giggling. "Well, then, let's see if you find this funny, shall we?"

Hermione looked at him confused. He had his two fingers pointed at the direction of her abdomen. Oh no. Before she could stop him, he tickled her.

She burst out laughing, unable to control it. "Draco, stop!" she cried between giggles.

"But this is funny, isn't it? I'm afraid I just can't stop." He smirked wider, if that was even possible.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Hermione exclaimed. Draco halted, reminding him that he had banged his head on the ceiling. He rubbed his head.

"Excuse me." Hermione called a stewardess, who noticed Hermione and walked towards her. "Do you have an ice pack?" she asked.

"Yes, one moment, miss." The hostess walked away towards the front of the plane and turned right. She came out with an ice pack in her hand.

"Here you go, miss. Is there anything else you need?" she asked.

"No, thank you." The stewardess nodded and walked back to tend to the other passengers.

"Here." Hermione handed the ice pack to Draco, who placed it on his head, feeling instant relief. "Sorry about that." She apologised.

"Apology accepted." Hermione went back to listening to her music and soon drifted off to sleep.


	18. Sweet Love: A Little Mischief and Fate

*Attention passengers. We are about to land. Please fasten your seatbelts.*

Draco tightened his seatbelt and waited for the weird feeling to return.

As soon as the plane landed, the passengers started to grab their luggage and exit the plane.

Draco shook Hermione awake. "It's time to go, Granger." Draco said. Hermione stood up and grabbed her suitcase from the top as well as Draco's. The two exited the plane and arrived inside Sydney Airport.

Hermione spotted Harry and walked towards him, Draco following after.

"Is everybody here?" he asked.

"Grinden is not here yet." An Auror named Jackson said.

"Well, where is he?" Harry asked impatiently.

"He said he was going to the washroom." Another Auror named Walton informed. He then spotted Grinden walking towards them. "There he is." He pointed towards the Auror.

"Alright, is everybody here now?" they all nodded. Harry led the way to the hotel they will be staying in quietly.

When they reached the hotel, Harry ordered the other Aurors to wait while he received all their keys. He walked up to the receptionist. "Rooms 266 to 278 please." Harry said. The receptionist grasped all the keys from 266 to 278 and passed them to Harry.

"Enjoy your stay." The receptionist smiled at him. Harry walked towards his group of Aurors and handed them their keys.

"Alright, now remember, no magic in front of muggles." They all nodded. The Aurors all entered inside the elevator. Hermione pressed the button that said '7', and waited as the elevator led them upwards to their floor.

*Floor Seven* an invisible voice resounded. They all stepped out and waited for their Auror leader's instruction for the rest of the evening.

"Today, we will have an evening off. Tomorrow morning, I want you all to meet me in my room, it's 278. We will talk about how we will captured those Death Eaters, but for now, enjoy the rest of the evening as you please." Harry allowed them to find their alleged rooms, whilst he searched for his own.

Hermione swiped her card and entered inside. She placed her suitcase on the side of her bed, as she made way for the bathroom for a shower.

After changing into her muggle clothes, she exited the room and locked the door.

'Damn thing! Where does this go?' Draco said to himself.

"You have to swiped the card through that gap, Malfoy." Hermione said. He did just that and finally, the door opened for him.

"I knew that." He murmured.

'Sure you did.' Hermione rolled her eyes. She started to walk towards the lift so she could go down to have dinner in the restaurant.

Draco entered his room and placed his suitcase on the side of his bed. He got into the bathroom and had his shower.

When he stepped out, he remembered that he needed to ask Blaise to get him the book that Hermione told him about. He got out a piece of parchment that he had brought with him and started to write.

He heard a tap on the window, indicating the arrival of his owl, Glasfyn. He opened the window and allowed the eagle owl to enter so that he could attach the note to its feet.

"Send this to Blaise Zabini." He instructed. The owl understanding flew towards its destination. It was going to be quite a long journey.

As soon as he got into his muggle clothes, he decided to go downstairs to the restaurant. Hopefully, they had better food here.

"Hey, 'Mione, is there something going on between you and Malfoy?"Harry asked, straight to the point.

"Um...no, why?" she asked.

"He and you are always side by side. Is there something you're not telling us, Hermione?" Ron asked, having suspicions.

"Haven't you told them yet, Granger?" a voice drawled in.

"Told us what?" Harry asked confused. "Hermione..." he was now beginning to think of the worse.

"Harry, it's not like that." Hermione interrupted him. She turned to Draco. "I was going to tell, Malfoy." She snapped.

"Alright, alright, don't need to get your claws out. I just thought that you would've told them by now, seeing as how they are your best friends." He emphasised.

"Shut up, Malfoy." She hissed. She turned to Harry and rom.

"You guys, I'm sorry I hadn't told you this earlier. It's just...I was confused. I still am. I don't understand what is happening. But I'll try to explain this as best as I can." Hermione began. When they didn't interrupt, she blurted out everything about the connection which she and Draco shared and how it may have happened.

"So, that's how he got to you first yesterday? And how he knew about your break up with that Jake guy before us?" Ron asked, putting the pieces together.

"Hermione, you didn't have to hide this from us. We would've have understood." Harry assured her.

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. I promise to tell you straight away next time." Hermione promised.

"It's alright, 'Mione. So, you said that there was a book that could help us understand this connection more. Have you got it?" he asked, curious to learn more of this connection.

"No, not yet. But, I've sent Blaise a note asking him for the specific book. Hopefully, he'll send the book to us soon." Draco answered.

"Okay, until then, let's just enjoy this night before we set out to find those Death Eaters." Ron said. They all agreed and ate their unfinished meals together.

Blaise unfolded the parchment and read the message.

Blaise,

I need you to find this book for me; it's called Telepathy Temptations. It's about the connection. Could you send it quick? Really appreciate it, mate.

Draco.

"Great (!) A trip to the bookstore. My favourite place (!)" he said in fake joy. "Why me? Why not Pansy? Man, I hate books!" blaise complained. He grabbed his coat and exited the apartment.

Blaise whistled as he walked to Flourish and Blott's. Lost in his own world again, he stumbled into a solid figure, taking them down with him.

He looked into those same violet eyes. Those same eyes he had met the last time.

"You again? Get off me, you doof!" she cried, trying to push him off.

Blaise quickly stood up straight. The girl straightened up, too.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Blaise apologised to the beauty.

"Yeah, you weren't." She scoffed.

"So...we meet again." Blaise cocked his eyebrows, attempting to act cool.

"Yes. Unfortunately, we do." She said unimpressed.

"You know, this is fate." Blaise said.

"What?"

"Fate brought us together." He said.

"I don't believe in nonsense like that." She said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do." She pushed passed him and walked away.

Blaise mentally kicked himself. Why didn't he stop her?

Then, he spotted something from the corner of his eyes. It seemed to be a diary. He reached down and picked it up.

"Violet Crown." He read the gold lettering on the front cover. He looked up and searched for her, but she was far gone.

He will have to find her later. First, he need to find that blasted book Draco wanted. He placed the diary inside his coat pocket and entered the book shop and asked the assistant, wasting no moment.

"Right this way." She walked towards the Astrology section. She pulled out the book from the shelf and handed it to blaise.

"I would like to purchase this, please." The woman nodded and walked to the counter.

"4 Galleons please." She said. Blaise handed her the money and took the book from her,

"Thank you." With that, he left the book store for good.

He apparated back to his apartment; where his owl was waiting for him. He put the book inside the envelope and tied it to the owl's foot. On cue, the owl flew away, searching for its destination. He pulled out the diary of Violet Crown and placed it on the table. He sat there staring at it, wondering if he should open it. No, he couldn't. It was someone's personal diary. There would be some pretty juicy stuff in there, though.

He reached for it and opened it before he could stop himself.

Splat! Sticky slime coughed on his face. He closed the diary and placed it back on the table. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face clean.

"Maybe I should just leave it." Blaise said, afraid of what more the diary will fire at him. "I'll try to find her tomorrow. Yeah." He had a shower and changed into his pyjamas, which meant him in his silky blue boxers. He then lied down on his bed and went to sleep, with only one thing in his mind – Violet Crown.

"Care to dance, gorgeous?" a voice cut in. Hermione looked to where the voice had come from and saw a tall, muscular tanned man wearing a sleek, black suit, with a white bow tie. He had gleaming blue eyes and golden blonde hair.

"Um...no, thank you." Hermione said and turned back to talking with her friends. Yes, Draco Malfoy was her friend now too.

The man was shocked. How could she turn down a handsome face like this? She must be out of her mind.

"Excuse me?" he asked, just to make sure he heard her right.

"No." He couldn't believe it. He took her hand and tried to pull it forcefully.

"Come on, beautiful. Just one dance. I won't bite." He said with lustful eyes.

"Let go of my hand." She said, through gritted teeth. He kept pulling, refusing to let go of her hand. Hermione struggled to pry his hands off her hands. "I said let go." She said again.

"Oh, come on. One dance won't hurt at all." He insisted.

"She said she doesn't want to dance with you. So, back off, banana head." Draco cut in, prying his hands off Hermione.

"Alright, alright." The man surrendered, knowing that he couldn't win in a fight with Draco. He walked away from Hermione and to another woman to woo.

"I had it covered, you know." Hermione remarked.

"You keep yourself that, Granger." He smirked.

"I did!" she cried.

"Yeah, yeah." He said boredom evident in his voice.

"I did, you idiot! So, shut up!" she cried in anger again. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"Calm down, Granger. No need to get so hot headed." He smirked again.

"Whatever, Malfoy." Hermione said. She turned back to Harry and Ron, who were just smiling at the scene in front of them.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Nothing."

"Nothing." They said. The quietly sipped their drinks.

"Hmph. This is so boring. We're just sitting here, while the others are enjoying the night. Have you three always been this boring?" Draco asked.

"We've had more fun than you for the past 12 years. Malfoy." Harry remarked. "Well, me and Ron have anyways; Hermione's such a bore something. All she wants to do is read her thick blasted books." Harry added, slightly sounding like his wife.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I'll have you know, I'm fun. I'm much more fun than all of you." She claimed.

"Prove it, Granger." Draco challenged.

"Alright." She held out her hand to Draco. "Let's dance. Make sure you can keep up with me." She informed.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and gave each other a knowing smile. They could tell that Hermione liked Draco, even though she wouldn't confess it. She didn't choose them to dance with her, she chose him.

Draco took her hand with a smirk on his face. He was led to the centre of the dance floor.

"Wait here." Hermione went to the DJ and whispered something in his ear. The DJ nodded in agreement. She came back to Draco and leaned in closer to his ear to whisper, "I hope you know how to do the samba." He could almost hear the smirk on her face.

The music started playing.

Draco wrapped his arm around her waist firmly and pulled her closer, closing the gap between them. This made Hermione gasp. Hermione just started to sway her hips from side to side. Then, Draco decided to dip Hermione down low, just an inch above the ground. She was pulled back up again and she swayed again. He then went to spinning her in quick twirls, before pulling her back to him. Hermione swayed her hips once again.

Draco leaned in closer to Hermione's ear. "I didn't know you had it in you, Granger." He smirked.

"Well, you better believe it, Malfoy." She replied. He chuckled lightly.

"You do know that this doesn't prove anything, right?" Draco said.

"What?" Hermione's eyes glowed with anger. She did all this for nothing!

"Dancing doesn't prove one to be fun, Granger. Anyone can dance; that doesn't prove that the person is fun in any way." He told her. "And you are the brightest witch of your age. Honestly, Granger." He smirked.

"You bastard." Hermione cried and hardly stomped on his foot. Draco jumped up and down, holding his sore foot up in pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Granger?" he said. He placed his foot on the floor as the pain slowly subsided. He pulled her back closer to him, which made her gasp. She placed her hands on his shoulders. She refused to look at him, though. All this, for nothing! The nerve of the ferret!

"Lighten up, Granger. I'll tell you how you can prove that you are fun." Draco said, the smirking never leaving his face.

"What is it?" she asked, still looking away from him.

"Would you look at me? You are being really childish, Granger." Draco used his hand to turn Hermione's face so that she was looking at him.

They continued to dance a little longer until the song suddenly changed. It was a slow dance.

The other couples around them snuggled up into each other's embrace and danced to the slow song.

Hermione and Draco continued to look at each other.

Harry and Ron waited patiently, never peering away from the couple in the centre.

They continued to look at each other, their eyes locked, and never breaking eye contact once.

They waited.

Hermione and Draco blinked. They pulled away from each other and walked back to Harry and Ron.

Harry and Ron frowned slightly. They had really thought Hermione and Draco were going to kiss. Hell, they were certain they would. But, unfortunately, they were met with disappointment.

"I never knew you could dance like that, 'Mione." Ron said genuinely surprised. He had known her for years, yet he had never seen her dance so gracefully.

"Neither did I." She said confused. She really didn't know how she could dance so well, considering the last time when she had gone on that date with Jake. She had never been able to dance like that ever as a matter of fact.

"Honestly, Granger, not bad." He said impressed. He scratched the back of his head.

"But, that's not enough to prove that I'm fun, is it?" she said.

"No, it isn't, you're right. But, don't worry; I know how you can prove it." His smirk grew wider.

"How?" she asked, slightly scared of what he was about to say.

"I want you to teach that guy a lesson," He pointed at the man that had tried to force her to dance with him, "With magic."

"But Shacklebolt specifically said that you cannot use magic in front of muggles." Hermione said. She was a rule abider, not a breaker like him.

"How's he gonna find out?" he smirked.

"He's the Minister; I'm pretty sure he can find out anything." Hermione remarked.

"Stop being such a prude, Granger. Learn to live a little." Draco said. "But if you're too chicken to accept the challenge, then-"

"Fine. I'll do it." She sighed in defeat.

"Good girl." Draco joked.

"Shut. Up." She said angrily. He just smirked in return.

"Okay, just for your sake, we'll wait for him to be alone." He said.

She watched the blonde man, who was dancing with an auburn haired woman in a blue cocktail dress. She saw him whisper something in her ear, and then leave her, heading for the elevator.

Hermione spotted that he was headed for the 7th floor and made the move to follow him using the other elevator. Draco followed behind, not wanting to miss the chance of seeing banana head get taught a lesson.

When the left stopped, Hermione and Draco stepped out and looked for the blonde. Hermione spotted him ahead and started to follow behind; taking care with every step she took.

The blonde felt like he was being followed and looked behind, but he saw no one. He continued to walk ahead.

Hermione peeked from behind the wall; she could see him walking up ahead to his room. She quickly muttered the spell before he escaped. "Avis."

A flock of paper birds appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the blonde, making sure to leave a mark on him. Though the birds were small, they could still give immense damage to the opponent. It was one of Hermione's specialties.

"Arrrrghhhhh! Get off me!" he screamed, which sounded so much like a girl. She couldn't help but giggle at this.

"Now, my turn." Draco smirked. He muttered his own spell towards the blonde and then, a tail was seen sprouting out of the man's behind.

The birds had finally left the man, disappearing into thin air. The blonde quickly started to walk up to his room, so that he could have a good rest, but he felt something...swinging behind him. He turned around and saw, to his horror, that he had an ass' tail. He screeched again.

He rubbed his eyes, to clear his vision, believing that he was just hallucinating. When he looked back again, the tail was gone. He sighed in relief, but cautiously opened the door to his room and quickly shut it before something else out of the ordinary would come out to attack him.

That was when Hermione and Draco finally burst out in laughter.

"That scream was priceless!" Hermione said between giggles.

"What a girl." Draco shook his head.

"I have to say, that was fun." She admitted. She hadn't that much fun for a while.

"Well, it would be, since you're here with an expert in fun." Draco said with pride. Hermione rolled her eyes.

That was when Hermione and Draco realised just how close they were to each other. There was just a small gap separating them.

Draco started to lean closer to Hermione. Hermione hesitantly went closer and closer. Their noses brushed past each others as they closed the small gap between them. Draco crashed his lips onto Hermione's.

The kiss was short yet sweet. Draco broke away, not sure if he should go any further. When he saw that Hermione had a look of disappointment, he pulled her into another kiss. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Draco deepened the kiss as he pulled her as close as possible; he was not going to let her go now. They broke apart only to search for their rooms.

As they found Draco's, they entered the room and continued to kiss each other passionately. Hermione wrapped her legs around Draco's waist as the kiss got more intense.

Their clothes were soon discarded on the floor as they made their way to the bed. Draco trailed small kissed down Hermione's neck, resulting in her to let a moan of pleasure to escape. She grasped his hair and kissed him full on the lips again, letting all the emotions go on that kiss.

They finally broke apart and stayed there, in each other's embrace. Hermione wrapped her arms over Draco's bare chest and snuggled her head between his shoulder and chin. Draco, in return, wrapped his arm around her petite waist. He gently kissed her on the forehead.

Soon, they both drifted off to sleep in each other's warm embrace.


	19. Captured

The curtains were slid open, the bright light hitting Draco's eyes. He squeezed them shut, in attempt of protecting himself from the fierce sunlight, but he didn't find it possible. He finally surrendered to the sun and opened his eyes, just to be met by an amazing beauty in front of him. Hermione was in light blue shorts and a plain white top that was wrapped around her body loosely.

'Good morning, beautiful.' He said to her telepathically.

She turned around and smiled at him. She slowly approached him, and sat down on the edge of the bed, beside him. He sat up slowly, stretching his arms out, shaking the tiredness off himself.

'Good morning.' He heard her say.

He pulled her by the hand, and spun her around, so that her back rested on his chest. He lovingly wrapped his arms around Hermione, and kissed her on the cheek softly. He started to trail small kisses down her neck, but she pulled away from him, though she loved the tingling feeling he gave her.

'Not so fast, Malfoy.' She teased him, smirking, worthy of a Malfoy. He smirked back at her.

'What, are we still on last name basis? Oh, come on, Hermione.' He teased back. He tried to grasp her, but she slipped away.

'Oh, so it's that way, huh?' he pushed the covers aside, and rolled out of the bed. He then approached Hermione, with a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. He reached for her again, but she slipped away once again.

Hermione, not about to give up to him so easily, escaped from his reach. She out her hand in his face, her thumb titling side to side, saying that he won't be able to capture her.

He attempted again to catch her, but failed, yet again. However, he was not about to give up just yet. He continued to approach her.

'Maybe, you should give up, Draco. You aren't going to catch me.' She teased him again.

'Oh yes, I am!' with one swift move, he pulled her towards him, making her gasp.

"What was it you were saying, Hermione?" he smirked, his arms closing in around her waist. He didn't allow her to answer as he pulled her into a soft, tender kiss. She smiled through the kiss as she kissed back.

"Draco, I think we should start getting ready. We have to get to Harry's room in less than half an hour for the meeting." Hermione said through the kiss. Draco groaned and broke apart.

"Fine." Draco sighed. Then, he decided to push his luck a little bit. "You know...I would sure love it if I had some to accompany me..." he said, though knowing what her answer was going to be. Hermione pushed Draco back playfully and smiled.

"No!" she cried, blushing. She then pushed him towards the bathroom. "Now go!" as soon as he entered the bathroom, he pulled her with him and closed the door.

"How can I let you go so easily? You enjoying teasing me don't you?" he smirked. He was about to kiss her, when Hermione pushed him back and exited out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Hey!" Draco cried.

"Just have your shower, Draco." Hermione commanded him.

"Yes, ma'am." Draco joked. Hermione rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. She walked back to her bedroom, and got into the shower herself.

Draco got out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist. He noticed that Hermione was gone, and frowned. He quickly put his clothes on, as he had to get to the meeting in 15 minutes. As soon as he was done though, he decided to take a detour to Hermione's room first. He turned on the spot and apparated, feeling a familiar tug at the navel.

Hermione wrapped her towel around her body, and got out of the show room. She then pulled on her jeans, and a red top with floral designs printed on. She unwrapped her towel and placed it on the radiator to dry.

She exited the bathroom, and was startled when she was brought down to the floor by none other than Draco, who appeared out of nowhere. Draco was on top of her, that damn smirk still plastered on his pale face.

"You know, it would be nice if you would knock on the door next time, than apparating here." She told him.

"Oh, but I like it this way." He grinned mischievously, and went in for a kiss. Just when he was about to crash his lips on hers, there came a knock on the door. Hermione pushed Draco off her and opened the door.

"Hi, 'Mione. Just came in to tell you that the meeting will be starting early." Ron informed. Then, he remembered that he Malfoy needed to know as well, and so decided to ask her, having not seen the Slytherin in his room. "Oh, and do you know where Malfoy is? I knocked on his door, but-" Ron stopped when he spotted Draco inside Hermione's room. Hermione turned to where Ron was looking at and found that it was Draco. She turned back, only to be met by Ron's raised eyebrows. She blushed, confirming Ron's suspicions. Ron started to walk ahead with a smile on his face, happy to see his best friend happy, even if she did find it through Draco.

Hermione followed behind after grabbing her wand from her bag. Draco did the same.

When they reached Harry's room, they sat down on the armchair, Hermione sitting on the arm of it.

Harry just looked at the pair and couldn't stop the smile brandishing on his face.

As soon as everyone had come, Harry started the meeting. "Alright, so, we're going to be split into three groups. The first group is Walton, Grinden, Marlowe and Dwight. You guys will be asking passersby in here if they've seen anything weird anywhere." The first group nodded, having understood their task. Harry continued. "The second group will be Hashford, Dresden, Angelo and Jackson. You will be going to individual shops and asking the owners and workers if they have seen anything out of order at any time. Krane, Roland, Foster and McLean will be joining. The last group will be I, Ron, Hermione and Draco. We will be going to places of transport to acquire any information we can about arrivals in the past month. Everybody understood?" They all nodded in agreement and made their way out of the hotel, immediately getting to their appointed task.

Blaise was just having his lunch in a small cafe named The Griffin, when he saw her. Violet Crown. Damn! She's so hot! He thought. He watched her enter the cafe and approached to where he was seated.

"This seat's not taken is it?" Violet asked, with an alluring voice, batting her eyelashes.

"Uh...no! Be my guest!" Blaise grinned from ear to ear. He smirked inwardly as he received deadly glares from competitors.

'Yeah, that's right! In for the win!' he then remembered that he had possession of the beauty's diary and opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

"Alright, where is my diary?" she demanded. She knew? He thought. He decided to answer.

"It's with me." He said.

"I know that, you bimbo! I mean to say that you give it back." She snapped.

"Oh, sure." Blaise then smirked; he was not going to give the diary so easily. Oh no, that's not how he rolls. Violet noticed this menacing smirk, and started to fear a little of what he was thinking. Having not been given back her diary, she became impatient and chose to speak.

"Can I have my diary back?" she demanded again, rather than asked.

"Oh yeah, but...what do I get in return?" he asked.

"What do you want?" she came straight to the point.

"A date. If you do so, you can have your diary back. So, what do you say, my fair lady?" he somewhat mocked.

"I knew it. There's always something you bastards want. Deal. But I want my diary back now." She agreed.

"No can do, my lady. I'm not as dumb as you think. If I give you back your diary, you'll just slip from the deal. As I said, you can obtain it after our date." He smirked again.

"Fine." She growled, defeated. She had somewhat underestimated this guy, for sure.

"Great! Where do you live? I'll pick you up from your home."

"48, Glendale Avenue." She answered through gritted teeth.

"Okay. I'll be there by 8pm." He stood up from his seat, placed his money on the table, and before departing, winked at Violet. Violet looked away, disgusted.

"Men, they're all the same." She grumbled under her breath before ordering a cappuccino.

"Harry, we've been inquiring for more than 5 hours, yet have found no leads of these strange happenings whatsoever." Hermione stated.

"You're right, Hermione, but there had to be something. We heard clearly that this was the part of Australia that has gotten reports of strange happenings. Maybe, if we split up. Okay, Malfoy and I will go this way, and Ron and Hermione that way." They all agreed and parted.

'Be careful, Hermione.' Hermione heard his voice from inside her head.

'I will, Draco.' She replied and smiled.

"Are you happy, Hermione?" Ron asked, after a while of walking. Hermione knew just what he was talking about.

"Yes, Ron." She answered simply.

"I'm happy to see you happy, 'Mione. But, if he hurts you in any way, I will beat him to a pulp." He warned her.

"I know you will, Ron. But I know Draco well enough to see that he won't do such a thing. I trust him." Hermione assured.

"Okay, if you say you trust him, then I will not interfere. For now, let's find those bastards, whoever they are, so we can pummel them." Ron said, his fist making contact with his palm. Hermione chuckled but continued to walk ahead.

"Malfoy, I swear, if you hurt Hermione in any way, I'll-"

"Beat me to a pulp, I know." Draco finished the sentence for him, having overheard Hermione's conversation with Ron.

"Yes, well," Harry began. "I just don't want to see Hermione hurt after what happened with her at Hogwarts." Harry said with slight hesitation.

That didn't go unnoticed by Draco. He was curious to know more about this.

"What happened at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Well, you must have heard that she had been going out with Dean Thomas." He stated more than asked.

"Yes." Draco said, urging Harry to continue.

"Well, she had been dating him for more than three months since Hogwarts was open to students again. It was all fine at the beginning, then...Dean became more distant, and kept on going out late at night to Merlin knew where. That was all revealed on one night, when Hermione was doing her night patrol, she had heard noises coming from a broom closet, and so, being the curious Gryffindor she is, went to investigate. What she saw was Dean, snogging the life out of Rose Gleason, the new girl who had started at Hogwarts just two months of the start of term. –I had seen her glancing at Dean a few times, but thought that was it was just paranoia, so I ignored it. I should've told Hermione straight away, but I didn't. The reason for Hermione getting hurt was partly my fault." He said sadly.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Potter. It was not your fault. The blame goes upon Thomas. I knew there was something off about him. I saw him glancing over at the new girl a few times. That git just didn't get how lucky he was to have Hermione as his girlfriend. He didn't deserve her." as Harry listened to Draco, he could see the anger evident in his eyes, and then came to the realisation.

"You liked Hermione, didn't you, Malfoy?" he said, smirking.

"Ur...no...Don't be so daft, Potter." He said, avoiding eye contact.

"Then, why did you seem so angry? You would not be so angry if you didn't care for her." Harry said, raising his eyebrow. "Just admit it that you liked Hermione. It's not so hard, you know."

"Okay, fine. I liked her." Draco finally blurted.

"Then, why didn't you tell her?"

"Because of whom I was, because of what I am, because of how I treated her. I didn't deserve her. I still don't." He said quietly.

"It wasn't your fault, Draco. Your father forced you into a life you did not want; you were helpless. It couldn't be helped." Harry assured.

"But, I could've had refused."

"No, you couldn't. He would have hurt your family if you did so. You had no choice. You were only protecting your family." Harry said.

'Harry's right, Draco. Don't blame yourself for what you did. You life was being dictated. It was not your fault.' Hermione said telepathically. Draco smiled.

'I'm sorry about what happened at Hogwarts between you and Thomas.'

"What are you sorry for? You weren't at fault there. I was.' Hermione frowned.

'No, Hermione. It was his fault. He was stupid to have let someone as amazing as you go. That new girl was nothing compared to you." He complimented. He could see her blush furiously. 'Don't you ever forget that.'

'Thank you, Draco.' Hermione smiled. '-Was it true? You liked me, at Hogwarts?' she asked, blushing.

'Yes, I did.' He admitted as a small red tinge appeared on his cheeks.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco and Harry were pushed back harshly to the ground. Draco tried to retrieve his wand, but it was snatched away by the enemy.

"Well, well, well...if it isn't Scarhead Potter." The voice said, smirking. He used the tip of his wand to pull Draco's face up, so that he had eye contact. "Ah...Draco Malfoy...I've heard...so much about you." He smirked mirthlessly. "I'm very disappointed, Draco. Very disappointed. I had heard you were one of the brightest wizards at Hogwarts. Now I see that the rumour was incorrect; couldn't even deflect a simple disarming spell." He shook his head and tutted.

**Hope you all liked it! Sorry for the late update! **


	20. Revenge

**Chapter 18 – Revenge**

"Draco!" Hermione cried, putting her hand in front, as if to stop him from disappearing, though she had only seen him inside her head. She heard footsteps behind her; knowing them to be Ron's, she didn't turn back.

"Hermione, what happened? Is everything alright? What did you see?" Ron asked with a sense of panic evident in his voice.

"It's Harry and Draco! They've been captured by a group of Death Eaters! We need to hurry, Ron, quick, before they get away!" Hermione bolted for the direction she believed Draco and Harry to be.

Ron didn't waste another second to follow after.

Hermione turned the corner and went right. She ran straight ahead, and then turned left. There they were, but before she could come to their aid, they all apparated on the spot.

No. This couldn't be happening.

"Hermione...did you find them?" Ron asked, panting.

"They're gone." Hermione said monotonous.

"Shit!" Ron cursed out loudly as he brushed his hair with his fingers in frustration. He looked at his best friend, and softened. She needed more support than he did. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, 'Mione, we'll find them. Let's gather all the Aurors back at the hotel, and we'll figure out a plan." Ron assured, knowing that she was worried about them.

Hermione then spotted something flying towards the ground. It looked like a piece of parchment. She walked towards it, and picked it up from the ground. There were three small words written on them:

_Expergiscere__, __o__magnum Dominum_

'This must be a spell,' she thought. She attempted to translate the words. Her eyes widened her eyes, knowing exactly what those words meant.

"What's that, Hermione?" Ron asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It's a spell." She replied.

"Do you know what it says?" he asked thickly. Obviously. He should know her by now. Of course she knows what it translated to.

"It translates to: 'Awaken, O Great Lord'." She answered.

"But what could that mean?" Ron asked to himself.

"Ron, I can only thing of one meaning for this spell...they want to bring Voldemort back from the dead." Hermione stated.

"What?! But I thought it was impossible to bring people back from the dead!" Ron exclaimed.

"Ron, don't you remember in 4th year? When Harry and Cedric were transported by the Triwizard Cup, which turned out to be a portkey? Voldemort had been brought back alive; with the help from Peter Pettigrew...you're...rat..." Hermione explained. Ron still had trouble believing that the stout man had been his pet rat.

When Ron didn't interrupt, she continued.

"Using some of Harry's blood, he was able to come back to life, or rather to get back in his original form." She explained.

"But that time Voldemort was still living, and breathing. Isn't that how he was able to get back to his strong her form? Cos the Death Eaters had his shrivelled body?" Ron asked.

"Yes, they did. So, that means that these Death Eaters have some sort of remain of Voldemort!" Hermione came to the realisation, put piece by piece together.

"And that means that they are trying to get Voldemort stronger again!" Ron said, coming to the realisation too. A little slow, but he got there nonetheless.

"This is not good, Ron. We have to think of a way to capture them, and stop them before they do this." Hermione said.

"Hermione, if we have the spell, doesn't that mean that they won't be able to revive Voldemort?" Ron enquired.

"That could be, Ron, but what if they all have the same piece of parchment, in case one of them loses theirs. I'm sure they've probably got the spell memorised, it being a very crucial spell for them." Hermione reasoned.

"Yeah, you're right. Right now, I think we should get all the Aurors back to the hotel so we can figure out a plan to capture these Death Eaters." Ron told her.

Hermione nodded and they both made their way to the hotel, contacting all the Aurors to meet in Harry's room, by using the coin they had used in the DA, when they were still at Hogwarts, Hermione having placed a charm to alert the other Aurors they were going back to the hotel.

As soon as all Aurors had gathered, they underwent the meeting.

"This is our lead to those filthy bastards." Ron showed them the piece of parchment. "This is a spell that is meant to revive Voldemort." Shocked by this information, they talked amongst themselves.

One of the Aurors, Angelo, put his hand up.

"There must fingerprints on the parchment, right? So, that we can track the Death Eaters?" he asked.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. He allowed Hermione to do the spell, knowing she was the best person for spell working.

She spoke the words and the parchment glowed. Suddenly, after a few seconds, the parchment burst into flames.

"What the hell?" Jackson, another Auror, exclaimed.

"They must have put a charm on the parchment, to protect their identities and their location." Ron stated.

"But, now we've lost the parchment." Jackson frowned.

"It doesn't matter, I remember it. Though, I don't think it will of any help to us, as it gives us no clue as to where the Death Eaters may be hidden." Hermione reasoned. She was correct.

Ron believed that he had the solution. Hermione could use her telepathic connection to try and contact Draco. He leaned closer to Hermione. "Do you think you can try to contact Draco? Ask him whether he know where they are?"

"I can try." Hermione agreed. She stood up from her place and excused herself, making her way out of Harry's room to her own.

'_Draco, are you there?'_

'_Hermione! Can you hear me?'_ Draco was heard in the apparent darkness.

'_Draco! Are you okay?' _she asked worried. _'And Harry?'_

'_Don't worry, I'm fine. And so is Harry, so far. I heard some of those guys saying something about using Harry's blood for a spell or something. Do you know what that's about?'_ he asked.

'_They're trying to revive Voldemort, using Harry's blood, like last time.'_ Hermione explained.

'_No. No! They can't bring him back! –But, wait. Don't they need remains of Voldemort or something? Like last time, there was his shrivelled form, which was used to bring him back in stronger form.'_ Draco asked.

'_As much as I would like to say they don't, I can't. Harry said that Voldemort had been defeated, but his body still remained, meaning that it went back into his shrivelled form. So, I think they have found their master's body, and brought it to their hideout, keeping it safe, until they found out how to revive him.' _Hermione explained. _'And they have...the spell...I remember it. It dropped when you and Harry apparated. We tried to use a locating charm on it, but the parchment burst into flames.'_ She continued.

'_This is not good, Hermione. If You Know Who does come back, he's going to be even stronger than before. Judging from what I've heard about their preparations, he could be back in form in less than a week, at best.'_ He added.

'_That's why I contacted you. Do you know where you are?'_ she asked hopeful in finding a lead on the Death Eaters. _'Another thing - why can't I see anything?'_ all she could see was darkness.

'_I've been temporarily blinded; that's why you are not able to see. And as for where I and Harry are located, we have no idea. I'm sorry, Hermione.'_ Draco sighed apologetically.

'_It's fine, Draco. We'll figure out another way to find the both of you. Just take care of yourself. Please.'_ She warned.

'_As long as I have you, I'll be alright.'_ Draco smiled, and then chuckled. _'Wow. That was really cheesy.'_

'_I miss you, too.'_ She chuckled, and then frowned slightly.

'_Hey. It will be alright. Don't worry about us. We'll be fine.'_ Draco assured her, though she still felt afraid she was going to lose them, like Fred, and Tonks, and Sirius...she didn't want to lose anyone anymore.

'_Hermione, I have to ask you something.'_ Draco cleared his throat. _'Do you want to...maybe...-'_

Hermione waited for him to finished, but it didn't happen.

"Come along, Draco. We have a little surprise in store for you." He was interrupted, yet again.

'_What's going on, Draco?'_ Hermione asked.

'_I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this.'_ He said slightly frightened. He sounded like he was being dragged away.

Hermione exited her room and went back to Harry's. She looked at Ron, who was looking expectantly at her, and frowned. She shook her head. Ron sighed, not knowing what they could do now. They had no leads anymore, with the parchment having burst into flames in front of their eyes.

"I think we should think on it and rest today. If anybody thinks they have an idea, please come to me or Hermione straight away. You can all leave now. I want you all back tomorrow morning, at 7:30, sharp." Ron instructed them. The Aurors nodded, and excused themselves to their rooms, talking conversing with each other.

Soon, only Ron and Hermione were left alone.

"Draco doesn't know where they are because they've both been temporarily blinded, so that the location stays hidden. He also said that he heard them talking about using Harry's blood for a spell, which I'm assuming was the one we had found. Before he could say anything else, he was dragged out of the room they were in. I heard the voice saying that he had a surprise for Draco...I don't understand what it may be, but it sure didn't sound like the kind of surprise you get on your birthday." Hermione said.

"We need to find a way to find them quick, Hermione, or Voldemort will be back, declaring war once again on the wizarding world, and we can't allow that to happen. We will not allow it to happen. Not this time." Ron was determined, sounding brave, though inside he was deeply frightened. He knew what The Dark Lord was capable of.

"I just hope they're going to be alright." Hermione said worried.

"Don't worry; they're the bravest people we know. I'm certain they can handle it. They'll find a way somehow to escape." Ron assured. Hermione gave him a smile.

"Goodnight, Ron." She said, turning to leave, after giving Ron a hug.

"Goodnight, 'Mione." Ron bid her goodbye and closed the door. He changed into his nightwear and slipped into bed.

Draco was taken out of the cell, and dragged to a cold room, where he heard two voices in front of him.

"Make sure Potter is fed. We don't want him to get weak." A silky voice commanded.

"Yes, sir." The other voice complied.

"We have a special visitor for you, sir." It was the person who had brought him here.

He was harshly shoved towards the silky voiced man. Draco winced in pain.

"Ah...nice to see you again, Draco." Draco could almost hear the smirk planted on his face.

That voice...he had heard it before. But when?

"Oh, surely you remember me Draco. Well, never mind, let me give you a hint. Your 17th birthday, I was the one who informed you about the Vanishing Cabinet." Realisation hit Draco. It was him.

"What are you doing here?" Draco demanded, anger boiling inside of him.

"Oh, come on now Draco dear, I'm sure you already know what I am doing here." Draco heard multiple footsteps, as if he was being surrounded.

"Revenge, Draco. I am here to avenge our Dark Lord, who will awaken soon." The mirthless smirk refusing to leave his face.

"What do you mean? That is impossible. The Dark Lord is dead!" Draco exclaimed.

"Nothing is impossible, Draco. The Dark Lord will rise again, to get his revenge on all those who had betrayed him. Starting with you." Before Draco could have the chance to answer, pain coursed through his body. It was like being stabbed numerous times. The Cruciatus Curse. The pain multiplied every second, as if there were more than just one person hitting him with the same curse. He tried to keep himself from screaming, but the pain was unbearable.

Hermione doubled over in pain, falling from her bed. She felt like 100 knives were stabbing her at the same time. She could keep her from screaming, the pain was just too much.

What was happening to her? Suddenly, she saw Draco, who was also doubling over in pain. He was being hit with the Cruciatus Curse multiple times; she could feel his pain.

'Draco.' She couldn't bear to see him in so much pain; all she could do was to endure it with him. Her tears failed to be contained, and trickled down her face. She let out another scream, which was when she saw the door open. Ron.

"Hermione, what happened?" he asked in a panic.

"Dra...Draco..." Her voice had become hoarse. She yelled out again. Ron lifted her in his arms and placed her back on the bed.

"Hermione, where's the Sleeping Draught?" Ron asked, believing it to be a way to stop Hermione's pain. Hermione just pointed weakly at the bedside drawers.

Ron quickly rummaged through the drawers and finally found it under the various vials of medicine. He opened the vial and made Hermione down the drink.

Hermione seemed to be breathing steadily now. Her eyes slowly started to close, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep. Ron placed the covers over her, and turned to the window, where a tap was heard.

He opened the window and allowed the owl inside, detaching the parcel, which had a note stuck on top of it. The note said:

_**The book about connections that you wanted. Next time, mate, why not ask Pans or someone? I was a little busy, you know. Anyways, I'll talk to you later.**_

_**Oh, say hi to Hermione for me.**_

_**B**_

He took a seat on the sofa and studied the parcel curiously, thinking whether or not he should open it. He shook his head and placed the parcel on the table in front of him and left the room, glancing back once to make sure Hermione was alright.

'_Hermione...I'm sorry...'_ he thought. He had seen her clearly in pain due to the curse that had hit him. The fact that they are connected now meant that they could feel each other's pain too. It was his entire fault. Yes, if he hadn't agreed to give Hermione his blood, this connection would never have taken place; therefore, Hermione wouldn't be hurt right now.

"Stop. We don't want to kill him –yet. We need to keep him alive for information. Leave us for a moment." They all obeyed and left the room, leaving only Draco and the master. When Draco felt the pain subside slowly, he spoke.

"You'll never get away with this, Croyden. I will make sure of it." He gritted his teeth, with Hermione still on his mind.

"That's very heroic of you to say that, Draco, but you're forgetting that you're in my custody and blinded. Come on, Draco, help me avenge our master. Join me, The Dark Lord will forgive you for turning your back on him, and reward you, if you help me revive him." Croyden offered.

"I will never help you, and the Dark Lord will never rise." Draco said angrily. Two footsteps were heard behind him.

"Take him away." Croyden commanded the two minions. "I will see you soon, Draco. Maybe you'll change your mind then." The two men dragged him away, and shoved back into his cell, causing him to collide into Harry. He heard the footsteps growing quieter and quieter.

"Draco, are you okay?" Harry asked. Draco gave a mere nod as he sat there silently.

"Here, have some food." Harry slid the plate, containing a loaf of bread and soup, towards him.

"No." Draco refused in a throaty voice.

"If you don't eat, then I won't tell you how we're gonna break out of here." Harry tried to persuade. It worked, that got the silver blonde's attention. "I just figured it out today – Kreacher." Harry said simply, smiling. Seeing Draco's confused face, Harry decided to explain.

"Kreacher is my house elf. If I remember correctly, house elves aren't affected by the rules of apparition, right? He can apparated us out of here in an instant." Harry explained.

"I never thought I'd say this, but that's a great idea, Potter." Draco praised the raven haired man. Draco quickly ate the loaf of bread and drank the soup.

"Get going, Potter!" Draco urged him.

"Alright, but please be quiet, otherwise the people guarding outside our cell will get suspicious." Draco nodded and waited for Harry to summon the elf.

"Kreacher?" Harry called with a clear voice, as quietly as possible. Hopefully it was loud enough to be heard by the house elf.

"You called master?" Kreacher asked, popping out of nowhere. He bowed down until his ears touched the ground.

"Talk as quietly as you can, Kreacher. And I told you not to call me 'Master'." Harry scolded the elf.

"Kreacher is sorry, what does Harry Potter need?" Kreacher asked.

"Can you apparated us out of here?" Harry asked expectantly.

"Of course, Harry Potter." Kreacher replied. He held out his hand to Harry and Draco, who quickly tried to grab hold of it.

"Hang on, Draco." Harry warned as they waited to be apparated.

"We're here, Harry Potter." Kreacher informed. Harry and Draco smiled, but then felt as if there were wands pointed at them.

* * *

**A/N:_ I know! I know! This is a late update. I am really sorry about that. Exams and school life got in the way...Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up for the late update; if it doesn't, then I am so so so so so so sorry! I will be updating the next chapter soon, though! ^_^ Please, please, please review if you can, it can really help in finding out how I can improve my writing! Apology for any grammar, spelling or any other errors that may be in the chapter; I will try and get them looked at by a beta, hopefully very soon. _**


	21. Trapped

"Well done, Kreacher. Good work." Harry and Draco heard from behind them.

"Kreacher is happy to help Master Croyden sir." Kreacher bowed until his ears touched the ground.

"You can leave now; I will call you again if I want you." With that, Kreacher snapped his fingers and apparated.

Croyden turned to Harry and Draco now. "Well, well, well, trying to escape are we?" he laughed mirthlessly, mocking their failure. "You didn't seriously believe that you could get out of here that easily, did you? –I think you are forgetting that I always plan ahead. I always have, and always will. Kreacher had never been loyal to you, Potter. I am his master." He explained.

Harry was too shocked to reply, so he stayed silent. He guessed he should have thought better than to underestimate his opponents. Croyden had been the third in command, after Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape, who were now dead. He had skilfully planned this out.

"I think you both need to be taught a lesson. B-"Croyden stopped talking for a moment.

"What?! You lost it!? You imbeciles!" Croyden seemed to be yelling at somebody, probably one of his minions. "How the hell did you lose it?! Do you know how hard it was to find?!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, boss, but it must have fallen out when we captured Potter and Malfoy." The minion helplessly whimpered.

"How could you be so careless? Find it! Now! If you all value your lives!" he ordered them. The men were heard rushing out of the door, in search for the piece of parchment, as if their lives depended on it –which it did.

* * *

"Damn, why did the old bag only have that one piece of parchment with the spell on it? I couldn't even duplicate it because she said there were some dark spells put on it, preventing me from making copies of it." He mumbled to himself in anger of his minions' idiocy.

"How could you be so stupid, Froslin? You just put all our lives at stake here!" a death eater yelled at the man at fault.

"I swear, I didn't know it had slipped out of my pocket! It was right here!" Froslin tried his hardest to defend himself.

"Well, it's not there anymore, is it now? How do you suppose we find it now? The boss will kill us all cos of your bloody slip up." Another Death Eater scolded.

"Wait! I remember seeing that Mudblood near the paper! She must have taken it!" Froslin remembered.

"Well? What are you waiting for then? Let's go!" the Death Eater urged.

"Grey, there's just one problem. I don't know where she is staying." Froslin replied feebly.

"You idiot! We'll have to go to the boss and tell him the Mudblood has it; he will be able to find the Mudblood. Come on." Grey said. They all rushed back to the mansion.

* * *

"Right, now where were we? Cru-" he was stopped once again, this time by the opening of the door.

"Boss!" One of the Death Eaters called, interrupting the curse that was about to be thrown at Draco and Harry.

"Have you found it?" Croyden demanded, clearly irritated by the interruption.

"No, but we believe we know who may have it." The minion answered.

"Who?"

"I had seen her when we apparated with Potter and Malfoy. She must have seen it and picked it up." Froslin replied.

"Well, I want that Mudblood here now! Do you hear me? Go find her!" Croyden ordered them.

"Um...we d-don't know w-where she is..." The other minion answered weakly.

"I have to do everything in this place!" Croyden huffed angrily. His footsteps grew near to Draco and Harry.

"Tell me, where does the Mudblood stay?" Croyden commanded.

"Don't you dare call her that." Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Ooh, a bit touchy, are we?" Croyden laughed. "Been shagging the Mudblood, Draco? I have to say, I am very disappointed; mixing your pure blood with her filth." He tsked.

"You better keep your fucking mouth shut, Croyden..." Draco warned.

"Or what? Huh? You'll tell your father about it? –Oh, wait, he's dead." He laughed mockingly.

"Shut up!" Draco lunged towards where he hoped Croyden was standing, but missed greatly. He was fiercely pushed back by a spell aimed by Croyden.

"Come on now, Draco. Be a good boy and tell me where your precious little girlfriend is."

"Not in a million years." Draco spat.

"Potter. Care to tell me where the Mudblood is?"

"Over my dead body, Croyden." Harry spat angrily.

"I can arrange that." He remarked. He sighed in defeat, making Harry smirk, though Croyden had other plans. "Alright, you leave me no choice. Bring out the Veritaserum." A pair of footsteps was heard getting closer and then getting further away.

The middle aged master held Harry's mouth with his hand and squeezed it open. He forced the clear liquid down Harry's throat.

Harry felt his throat burn as the liquid entered his body.

"Now, tell me, where is the Mudblood staying?" Croyden demanded again.

"Glowburn...Hotel...Room...276..." Harry answered in a struggle.

"See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Grey, Rinez, Froslin, go fetch the Mudblood for me. Now. And don't mess this up." He commanded them. The three pairs of footsteps headed out of the door of the place, towards the hotel.

* * *

Just before they entered, they put a disillusionment charm on themselves, so that they couldn't be seen by the Muggles. They all headed upstairs, in search of the room. When they finally reached the room, Grey turned to the other two.

"I will go in there. You two stay out her and keep a look out." Grey ordered. He pointed his wand at the door, "Alohomora." He said. The door clicked open, and entered inside.

He saw Hermione, and stopped, taking a moment to admire her beauty.

"Ain't you a beauty?" he said. It was loud enough to wake Hermione up from her slumber.

Hermione quickly searched for her wand, and as soon as she found it, she pointed it at the intruder.

The disarming spell was shot at Grey before he could counter attack it. He was pushed back, causing him to clash against the door.

"Petrificus Totalus." Hermione said, pointing her wand at Grey.

"Did you just hear something?" Froslin asked.

"Yeah, I heard a thud from inside. Should we go check to see if Grey has got the Mudblood?" Rinez asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Froslin and Rinez were just about to enter when-

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice drawled from behind them. They turned around and only had time to look shocked, before a Body Binding spell hit them, square on their chests.

The door of the room then opened, revealing a brunette with a wand in her hand. She smirked as she saw the two men lying frozen on the ground. She helped Ron drag the two men inside her room. She then closed the door behind her and looked at Ron.

"They must know where Harry and Draco are, Hermione." Ron told her.

"Don't worry, Ron, I'm already on it." Hermione smirked again, reminding Ron too much of a certain blonde Slytherin she was infatuated with. She pointed her wand at one of the men. "Occlumens." Right then she could see clearly where the Death Eaters were hiding. She also saw the leader of the pack, William Croyden. She should've known. He had been Voldemort's third in command. Now with Bellatrix and Snape dead, he had taken charge and was determined to revive his master, Voldemort.

He seemed to have gotten her location from Harry, who must have been given Veritaserum, because she had found the spell, which she now deducted, was the only piece of parchment with the spell on it.

She stopped the spell, having found enough information about these Death Eaters in order to locate their whereabouts.

"I know where they are." Hermione said. Ron nodded and started to make his way out of the room.

"I will gather the Aurors. Wait here." Ron instructed her, and exited the bedroom.

As soon as Ron had all the Aurors gathered, they went to the back entrance of the hotel and apparated, with the three Death Eaters tied up firmly, to Croyden's hideout.

* * *

There were many Death Eaters guarding the mansion outside, and it seemed like they were outnumbered 3 to 1. However, they had to defeat them nonetheless. They Aurors didn't waste a second to start firing at the guards; one by one, they were all knocked unconscious in a matter of a few minutes.

It wasn't long until they had entry to the mansion. They all charged inside, not caring about the fact they were out in plain sight. The Aurors didn't give the Death Eaters a chance to respond, as they shot spell after spell at them, disarming them immediately.

After that, it was all chaos.

Hermione was surrounded by 5 Death Eaters, each wand pointed directly at her. She refused to back down; she had to try to take them on at least.

That was when all the wands aimed the same spell at her. Hermione was quick to respond and formed a shield in front her, though, she knew her back was exposed. Though she waited for the impact of the spells from behind her, she didn't feel anything. She was about to turn around.

"Don't turn around right now. It's too dangerous; you'll be hit by another spell." She obeyed to the voice, who she knew was Draco's. She felt relieved that he was alright, though his voice did sound slightly hoarse. She shook her head and kept her eyes on the Death Eaters in front of her.

Whilst Hermione and Draco were fighting valiantly together, Ron and Harry, along with the other Aurors, were doing the same.

After a few minutes into the battle, the ones who were winning were the Aurors, now having an advantage in numbers of 4 to 1. Only a few Death Eaters were left to defeat, including Croyden.

Hermione and Draco had gotten free of the five minions, and placed a Body Binding Curse on each of them, to restrict their movements. As soon as they had finished, they started to search for Croyden, who they couldn't see anywhere at the moment. Thinking it to be the best option to find the master, they both split up and started their search.

Hermione ran across the wide hallway, until she found a door. It seemed to be really old, as if it has been there for generations. Suddenly, she heard the breaking of glass, and it was coming from the other side of the door.

With the wand held tightly in her hand, she pushed down the handle and cautiously entered inside. Unfortunately, she didn't find anything except the shattered glass that was lying on the marble floor.

Nonetheless, she decided to search the room, in case she found anything that could help locate Croyden. For some reason, she felt drawn towards the bookcase located next to the small window that was opposite the door. She drew closer to it and felt her hand across the many ancient books, until she felt movement. She attempted to pull the book out, but instead, it tilted downwards. Hermione stepped back as she felt the bookcase grumble, rotating 90 degrees, revealing an opening.

Hermione went inside, taking caution, as this could be a trap.

'_Hermione, where are you?'_ she heard Draco from inside her head.

'_I'm in a room located on the left side of the wide hallway, with the black and white paintings. Come to the door at the end, there's a bookcase that should be open, I'm inside there.'_ Hermione replied.

'_Okay, stay there. I am on my way.'_ Draco told her. Hermione nodded and waited for the blonde.

Draco rushed to the located place Hermione told him she would be in. He opened the door and on his right, in front of him, he saw a bookcase that was rotated, revealing an opening. He made his way towards it and entered inside.

"Hermione, are you there?" Draco called out.

A figure walked out from the darkness. It was Hermione. She rushed towards him, and embraced him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She said relief evident in her voice.

"I'm glad you're okay, too." He held her tightly, hugging her back. They stepped back and smiled at each other.

"What the hell is this place?" Draco said, looking at his surroundings. There were numerous vials mounted on the shelves around the room. A rectangular table at the centre with many pieces of equipment and ingredients needed for making potions. A fireplace on the right hand side of the room, a cauldron hung just a few centimetres above the doused fire. There was also a large picture, above the fireplace, though there was nothing on it, except a large mansion.

"It seems like Croyden did have it all planned in bringing The Dark Lord back to the Wizarding world. We should try to find the body, it could be somewhere in this room." Hermione stated. Draco nodded and began to search for the body of The Dark Lord's shrivelled form, though; unfortunately they weren't having much luck.

"It's pointless; Croyden probably took the body and escaped from here. We should get out of here, Harry and Ron are probably wondering where we are." Hermione told Draco. The two started to make their way towards the open bookcase; it was supposed to be open anyways. They were both locked inside and didn't know how they could get out. Draco rushed towards the bookcase and tried to break it down, but it didn't work.

"Damn, it's not going to work." Draco said.

"Maybe I can try and contact Harry! I still have the charmed coin." Hermione pulled out a coin from her jean pocket and showed it to Draco. "This informs the other Aurors if one of us is in trouble, and helps us locate each other." Hermione explained.

"That's a good idea. Try it." Draco urged her. Hermione pointed her wand at the coin and muttered the spell. Draco noticed Hermione doing the spell again, and once more, and again, though with a look of frustration etched on her face.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked, slightly worried.

"Draco, it's not working. The coin should be glowing after I said the spell, but it's not. Something's wrong." Hermione replied.

"Here, let me try." Hermione handed Draco the coin. Draco spoke the spell clearly whilst pointing his wand at the coin. Nothing happened. The coin didn't glow at all. Draco believed there to be only one answer – their wands weren't working, or they aren't able to in here; possibly a charm disallowing wizards to use their wands. But then, how would it even be possible for Croyden to make the potion he needed in order to revive You Know Who?

Could it be that he placed a charm that allowed only his wand to work in this place? Is there a spell like that?

"Hermione, is there a spell which will allow only Croyden to use his wand in this place?" Draco asked.

"There is a possibility, Draco. If that's the case then, we are going to have to find another way to escape this place." Hermione replied.

"But how? What way can there be?" he asked, not believing there was another way to escape.

"There has to be. We'll just have to find it." Hermione smiled, though she wasn't that confident either.

There had to be another way.

* * *

**A/N:_ I hope this was alright. I still have my writer's block, so sorry if there was anything you thought wasn't good. Also, sorry if there are any grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc errors anywhere in the chapter. Please, please, please review if possible! Very much appreciated! Goodbye for now, my readers! ^_^_**


End file.
